Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story
by Night-the-Dragon
Summary: It's just the KH2 storyline, but beginning with Night's POV, then switching to Shadow's once Sora and him wake up. Sorry guys, but no yaoi or anything in this one! Credit for the script goes to DJ Firewolf at gamefaqs.
1. Another Dream About Them

A/N: Okay, now for KH2, and it's continuing with Night's POV, and then it'll go to Shadow's! Also, the italics are the dream sequences. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Night, and Kurai.

KH2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 1

Another Dream About Them…

_"Sora, Shadow."  
Sora and Shadow woke up and yawned. Then they see Kairi. "Whoa!" She giggled. "Give us a break Kai-!"  
Sora, Shadow, Riku, and Kurai were racing on the beach. "Giving up already?" Riku and Kurai taunted.  
The five of them were watching the ocean at twilight. "If there are any worlds out there, why did we end up on this one?" Riku wondered aloud as Kurai nodded.  
Sora and Shadow were gazing at their chalk drawing of Sora and Kairi in the secret place.  
"This world has been connected," a lone figure said. They got up, distressed.  
"Wh-who's there?" Sora called out.  
"Tied to the darkness…"  
Sora, Shadow, and Kairi were watching the ocean at the dock. "Sora, Shadow, don't ever change," Kairi said.  
"The door has opened…" Riku and Kurai said. Sora and Shadow run to their outstretched hands, but are stopped by the darkness.  
"What?" Sora and Shadow said. They stood and faced a giant beast.  
"You understand nothing."  
The door behind Kairi in the Secret Place blew her toward Sora and Shadow, who ready themselves to catch her.  
"So…ra…" Kairi murmured. She vanished as Sora and Shadow caught her. They were blown out of the tunnel…_  
Roxas and I woke up from the dreams then.  
"Another dream about them," Roxas and I said as he sat up. I groaned as I stretched like a cat. We opened the window and listened to the sound of the train station bells off in the distance. I inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh scent of the morning air. We joined our friends Hayner, Pence, and Olette at the Usual Spot, where we sat and thought about those weird dreams. Our friends were enjoying a chat as we started to think to ourselves.  
"Man, doesn't that tick you off?" Hayner asked.  
"Yeah, that's just wrong," Pence agreed.  
"Seifer's gone too far this time," Olette pointed out. They all looked at us, and we just nodded. Hayner hopped off his seat and started to pace.  
"I mean, it's true that stuff's been stolen around town," Hayner started. "And we've got a score to settle with Seifer and everything. So if he wants to think we did it, I can't really blame him. See…that's not what really bugs me. What _really_ bugs me is that he's goin' around telling everybody we're the thieves! Now the whole town and their mothers are treating us like the Klepto Club! Have you ever been this ticked off before in your life? 'Cause I haven't. Nuh-uh, never. Now…what to do." Olette looked at us, not knowing what to say, and we just shrugged.  
"Uh…well…We could find the real thieves," Roxas suggested. "That would set the record straight."  
"Hey, that sounds fun!" Pence said excitedly.  
"What about Seifer?" Hayner asked. We stood up and Hayner folded his arms.  
"First, we gotta clear our names," I said firmly. "Once we find the real culprit, everyone will get off our backs." Hayner growled slightly at that. He was always raring to fight.  
"Oh no! They're gone!" Pence cried out. We looked and saw he was holding up a camera. "Our - are gone!" Pence put his hand to his throat, realizing he couldn't say the word "photo". "What?" he said in confusion.  
"All our -, gone? Huh?" Hayner said, and put his hand to his throat, too.  
"Huh? You can't say -? Why not?" Olette gasped.  
"But you do understand what I'm saying, right?" Pence asked. "Our - are gone!"  
"Stolen…" Roxas and I murmured. "And not just the -. The word -! They stole it, too!"  
"What kinda thief is that?" Hayner asked in disbelief. "Seifer could never have pulled that off."  
"Yeah!" I agreed.  
"All right, time for some recon!" Hayner said, and we began to leave to investigate the matter. While the others left, though, Roxas and I paused when we felt dizzy.  
"Huh?" we said, confused by the suddenness of it. We blacked out.  
"Their hearts are returning," a deep voice said. "Doubtless they'll awaken very soon."  
We woke up on the ground, and got to our feet, Roxas brushing the dust off of his pants, and I shook the dust off of my silver armor. "Huh?" we said again. Olette came running back for us.  
"Roxas, Night, come on," she said, and we quickly followed after her. We talked to some of the shop owners around the Tram Common, and found that their photos had been stolen, too. After a thorough investigation there, Hayner began to speak.  
"Looks like the culprit is going around stealing -," Hayner remarked. "And not just -, but the word -, too."  
"This isn't your average thief…" Pence said worriedly.  
"I wonder if Seifer would know anything about this," Olette wondered aloud.  
"We gotta talk to him," Roxas said. "C'mon, to the Sandlot!"  
We got to the Sandlot, where Vivi, Rai, and Fuu were talking. Vivi noticed us, and when he stopped talking, the others looked, too.  
"Thieves," Fuu said. She always spoke in short sentences, most typically one-worded ones.  
"That was low, y'know!" Rai said. He was always saying "y'know", and it drove me nuts. I just wanted to clobber him at times. Vivi shook his head at us.  
"Oh yeah?" Hayner said, taking it as a threat. Seifer walked in then.  
"Nice comeback there, blondie," Seifer taunted Hayner.  
"What'd you say?!" Hayner snapped at him.  
"You can give us back the - now," Seifer said.  
"Yeah! You're the only ones who would take it, y'know?" Rai said.  
"That was undeniable proof that we totally owned you lamers," Seifer told us. "So what did you do? Burn it? Ha, not that we need some - to prove that you're losers." I growled in response.  
"Replay!" Fuu said suddenly with a smirk, and Seifer laughed.  
"Now you're talking!" he said to Fuu. They all got ready to fight, as did Hayner. "I guess if you get on your knees and beg, maybe I'll let it slide."  
Roxas and I moved forward to Seifer and his gang, who laughed at us. Seifer folded his arms as we began to kneel.  
"Roxas, Night!" Hayner protested. Roxas chose a Struggle bat to fight with, and chose one with great strength. Seifer pulled out his own Struggle bat, and we prepared to fight. I would fight without one, which suited me; I have claws and fangs, so that's good enough for me.  
"Roxas, Night, focus!" Pence cautioned us.  
"Kneel, loser!" Seifer yelled, and we knocked him around a bit. "Come on…quit playin' around and fight!" We then proceeded to fight and beat Seifer, much to his annoyance. Rai and Fuu moved in to protect Seifer.  
"Seifer's not feeling so hot, y'know!" Rai said.  
"Tournament decides," Fuu added. Pence pulled out his camera to snap a photo, and as soon as he did, he gave us a thumbs up. When he took the picture, however, suddenly, a white creature appeared out of nowhere and snatched the camera. The creature fled to the Tram Common.  
"What was that?" Hayner yelped.  
"The thief!" Olette cried out, and we ran after it. Roxas and I followed it in hot pursuit, chasing it through the woods of Twilight Town. It danced through the trees, as though it wanted us to follow. When it stopped, though, it was in front of the Old Mansion. As we approached the creature, a voice spoke in our heads: "We have come for you both, my lieges."  
"Huh?" we said in bewilderment. The mouth of the creature unzipped, and it opened its mouth. We tried to attack it with the Struggle bat, but nothing was hitting it.  
"It's no use," Roxas said as we back off. Suddenly, the bat swirled with data, and my claws glowed.

"What?" we said in shock. His Struggle bat turned into a large key, and my claws continued to glow. The large key pointed itself at the creature, and Roxas wondered, "What…what is this thing?"

We decided to try and fight the white thing again, and this time, destroyed it. Once it had vanished, the photos from the camera dropped. The large key disappeared from Roxas's hand, and my claws stopped glowing. We picked up the photos and returned to the Usual Spot. Once there, we all looked them over.  
"What's this?" Hayner asked, looking at a photo which showed Roxas and me standing with one of the shop owners when he opened his shop.  
"We were his first customers after he took over the shop," Roxas explained. "So we took a picture together."  
"It's really nice photo," Olette said. "Oh…!"  
"Hey! You just said 'photo'!" Pence said.  
"So, Roxas and Night—tell us about the picture thief," Hayner said.  
"Not much to say," we admitted. "The pictures were just lying there."  
"Then how do we prove we weren't the ones that took 'em?" Hayner grumbled. He looked at the next picture and chuckled. "It's a girl…"  
"You look happy Roxas," Olette teased.  
"Do not," he argued.  
"So, like, anybody else notice that all the stolen pictures are of Roxas and Night?" Pence asked.  
"Ohh, so that's why everyone thought it was us," Olette said in realization.  
"You mean Seifer didn't go around accusing us after all?" Hayner asked. Roxas and I went over to Pence, who was holding the photos.  
"Are they really all of Roxas and me?" I asked.  
"Yep," Pence said, and held out the pictures. "See?"  
"Look!" Olette said as she saw the pictures.  
"Right? Every single one," Pence said, nodding. "Wouldn't it be weird if the thief wanted to steal the real Roxas and Night or something?"  
"C'mon, get serious," Hayner said. "Why would anyone wanna steal two boneheads like Roxas and Night?"  
"Oh, thanks!" my blonde friend and I laughed, and we all started to laugh together. The bells rang in the distance, and our friends left for their homes, Olette waving as they ran. Roxas and I paused, then left after a bit. We had to shield our eyes from the afternoon sunlight as we walked out, it was so bright. Suddenly, two voices sounded in our heads.  
"Where…are we?" they said.  
"Who's there?" we demanded in our minds.  
"Who are you?" the voices asked back, and it ended. We slept that night, dreaming about that boy, Sora, and his dragon, Shadow. Sora was awoken by a dog, and both Sora and Shadow jumped to their feet.  
_"Oh…Where are we?" they wondered, and ran into another area. "What happened to our home? Our island?" Strange creatures appeared around them, and Sora suddenly had that large key that Roxas had used earlier in the day, while Shadow's claws began to glow like mine had.  
"Riku! Kai-!" Sora yelled, and a static image of Kairi appeared in our minds' eye. Sora and Shadow were confronted by a man. "Who are you?"  
"They will come at you both out of nowhere, as long as you continue to wield the Keyblade and light," the man told them. The scene changed. Two people were knocked out of the sky, and landed on Sora and Shadow.  
"Hey, why don't you come with us?" the taller one asked. "We can go to other worlds on our vessel."  
"Sora and Shadow, go with them. Especially if you both want to find your friends," the man from before told them.  
"Donald Duck," the short one said.  
"Name's Goofy," the tall one said.  
"We're Sora and Shadow. We'll go with you guys," Sora and Shadow replied. The scene changed again. The man from before was standing with Sora, Shadow, and a woman.  
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade and light," the man told Sora and Shadow.  
"That's right. The Keyblade and light," the woman said.  
"So…these are the keys?" Sora and Shadow said. Suddenly, a voice spoke from a room, where it looked totally different from before.  
"But the boy and dragon are a problem," a harsh voice said. "They found one of the keyholes." We saw Sora and Shadow locking a keyhole in a different place._

We woke up from the dream, feeling weird. Roxas sat up, and I pulled myself up onto the bed.  
"A key…blade?" Roxas said curiously. I shrugged.  
"I don't know, but what's this about light?" I asked him. He shrugged as well, for neither of us had a response. We left for the Usual Spot. Before we went inside, though, Roxas paused, and picked up a random stick on the ground.  
"A Keyblade…" Roxas murmured, and swung the stick as though he was trying to fight with it. I concentrated, but didn't feel the light come to me, either. "What was that about?" he wondered, and tossed the stick over his shoulder, where it hit a man in a black coat in the chest.  
"Oh!" Roxas gasped, and we looked. He walked down the steps, not acknowledging us. "Sorry…about that…." We walked into the Usual Spot, where Hayner, Pence, and Olette were sitting enjoying some Sea-Salt Ice Cream. Hayner gave Roxas and me one each.  
"Thanks," Roxas said, and we sat down.  
"Do you guys think we'll always be together like this?" Pence asked out nowhere.  
"I sure hope so," Olette replied.  
"Huh? Where did that come from?" Hayner asked, confused.  
"Oh, well, you know. Just thinking out loud," Pence explained.  
"Well, I doubt we can be together forever," Hayner said. "But isn't that what growing up's all about? What's important isn't how often we see each other, but how often we think about each other, right?" Pence laughed in response.  
"Get that off a fortune cookie?" he asked, still laughing.  
"That's it, no more ice cream for you!" Hayner said jokingly. "Man, today's turning out to be a drag."  
"Maybe because of yesterday's memory thief," Olette guessed.  
"Nuh-uh. You know what it is?" Hayner said. "We don't want summer vacation to be over. That's all! So how about this?" He stood up. "We all go to the beach! And why do we go to the beach? Because we haven't gone once this entire vacation! Blue seas! Blue skies! Let's just get on the train and go!"  
We didn't say anything as we stood up, too.  
"No?" Hayner asked. "Aww, c'mon!"  
"Maybe you forgot, but we're broke," Roxas informed him.  
"Maybe you forgot I'm smart!" Hayner argued, and we all left for Market Street.

A/N: And there's the first chapter of KH2 from Night's POV to start with! R&R, peeps!


	2. More Dreams & More Confusion

A/N: And here's Chapter 2! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Night, & Kurai.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 2

More Dreams…And More Confusion…

We all made it to Market Street, where our friends were looking at the poster about The Struggle. When we joined them, Hayner turned to us.  
"You two and I have to make it to the finals," he told us. "That way, no matter who wins, the five of us split the prize!"  
"Okay, you're on," Roxas replied, looking excited.  
"You three are gonna clean up!" Pence said cheerfully.  
"Go get 'em!" Olette chimed in. Roxas and Hayner put their arms together as a sign of their friendship. I would've joined in, but my arms are short.  
"It's a promise!" Hayner said. "Now, let's get down to business. One ticket to the beach is 900 munny. How much for four of us?"  
"Hey! What about me?" I demanded. Hayner laughed.  
"You don't need one," he told me. "You can hide in Roxas's pocket." I growled under my breath at the size joke, but nodded nonetheless.  
"3600 munny," Olette answered Hayner's earlier question.  
"And 300 each to spend there," Hayner added. "What's that for all of us?"  
"1500 munny," Olette answered again. "A total of 5100 munny." Pence put his hands behind his head.  
"To spend on what?" he asked.  
"Pretzels, of course!" Hayner replied. "What else is there?"  
"Well, there's always watermelon," Roxas pointed out. I started drooling at the mention of the fruit.  
"Too pricey," Hayner replied. "They're, like, 2000 munny apiece."  
"Pretzels it is," Roxas agreed. I groaned, and my drooling stopped. Pretzels aren't nearly as good as watermelon, but it's still food, I guess…  
"So where were we?" Hayner continued.  
"We need 5100 munny altogether," Olette reminded him. "But all we have is…"  
"I've got 800 munny," Pence said, pulling out his.  
"….650," Olette muttered.  
"150. Sorry," Roxas said, pulling out our munny. Hayner looked happy, though.  
"That's 1600 munny!" he said, looking pumped. "We need another 3500. Let's find ourselves some odd jobs and earn some dough! We have until the train leaves to earn 700 munny each!" Hayner ran off, yelling, "Meet at the station with cash in hand!"  
"Didn't he say he had it covered?" Pence wondered as our friend ran off.  
"Whatever. Those pretzels are sounding pretty good," I said, and Roxas and I left to work at some odd jobs and earn our share, which was a total of 1400 munny. Once finished, we rejoined the others at the Station Plaza.  
"All present and accounted for?" Hayner asked.  
"What've we got?" Pence asked.  
"Let's see…" Roxas and I said, and we pulled out our share that we had earned. "Just this."  
"Good job," Hayner praised.  
"Nice work, everyone," Olette praised as well. "Added to what we started with, we now have…" She pulled out a hand-made pouch from her pocket. "Ta-da! 6000 munny!"  
"Sweet!" Hayner said excitedly. Olette gave us the pouch.  
"Let's get tickets!" Olette said hurriedly, and she and Pence ran off to the station.  
"We can't be together forever…so we'd better make the time we do have something to remember," Hayner said quietly. Roxas and I looked at him in confusion.  
"Huh?" Roxas said.  
"Gotcha!" Hayner said, and jokingly punched Roxas in the gut. Hayner ran off to join the others, and we started to follow. Out of nowhere, though, we tripped and fell.  
"Whoa!" Roxas gasped as we fell onto the ground. A small stick dropped to the ground. The others stopped, and Hayner stepped down off the stairs slightly. Roxas and I grunted slightly, and started to pick ourselves off the ground. Roxas touched his lip to see if it was bleeding, which it wasn't. Suddenly, a man in a black coat was standing beside us with a smaller creature on his shoulder that also wore a black coat. "Huh?" I said, and they picked us up and whispered something to us.  
"What?" Roxas and I said.  
"Roxas, Night! Three minutes!" Hayner yelled to us.  
"Okay!" we yelled back. We looked back to the figures, which were gone. We caught up to our friends in the station, where Hayner held four fingers up to the teller. I quickly hid in Roxas's pocket.  
"Four students!" Hayner told the teller.  
"Roxas, Night, the munny!" Pence said urgently. Roxas began to check his pockets, but nothing was there.  
"Wait—" Roxas said. "No!" he gasped when we realized the munny pouch was gone.  
"Huh?" Hayner said. Roxas and I looked back to the plaza, remembering the cloaked man and his companion picking us up.  
"He took it!" I hissed, and Roxas and I began to run out there, but our friends stopped us.  
"Where are you going?" Olette asked.  
"Remember when we fell?" Roxas told them. "We had the munny before that. I'll bet those guys took it!" I growled in agreement.  
"Guys?" Hayner said, confused.  
"They couldn't have gotten too far…" I growled to Roxas.  
"What are you talking about?" Hayner pressed. I saw he was remembering when we fell, but in his mind, there wasn't anyone. "There was no one."  
"Huh?" Roxas and I said, bewildered. "But they…There wasn't…Really?" The train whistle blew, and the train began to leave. We realized that we had missed the train.  
"Oh boy…" Pence muttered.  
"There wasn't anyone…there?" Roxas and I murmured in shock. Later, we were all sitting on the top of the Clock Tower, eating ice cream. Roxas and I sat there, letting ours drip.  
"They're melting," Olette pointed out to us.  
"Sorry," we murmured.  
"Cheer up already!" Hayner chastised us.  
"That was definitely weird, though," Roxas and I remarked.  
"Strange," Olette chimed in.  
"You said it," Hayner agreed.  
Roxas and I thought to ourselves. What the guys had whispered to us was, "Can you feel Sora and Shadow?" We fell asleep in bed again, dreaming about Sora and Shadow.  
_"As the key and light bearers, you must already know one must not meddle in the affairs of other worlds," a merman was telling Sora, Donald Goofy, and Shadow. The scene changed with the sound of static.  
"So many places I want to see…I know I'll get there someday," a mermaid said. The scene changed again.  
"Thus, I do hereby dub thee junior heroes," a creature that looked half-man, half-goat said to Sora, Shadow and their friends.  
"Hey! What do you mean by 'junior heroes'?" Donald demanded of it.  
"You rookies still don't understand what it takes to be a true hero," the creature replied. The scene changed with the sound of static again.  
"I…I wish…for your freedom, Genie!" a young man was saying to a genie.  
"Al!" the genie gasped, and was granted legs. The scene changed again.  
"Sally, why didn't I listen to you?" a skeleton was telling a girl who looked like a doll.  
"Don't feel bad, Jack," she told him. "We'll come up with another plan for Halloween. Next time, we'll do it together."  
Sora and Shadow summoned a small red dragon after the scene changed.  
"Power!" they yelled, and the small red dragon appeared.  
"I am Mushu!" it yelled. The scene changed again.  
"Or are you too cool to play them now that you have the Keyblade and light?" Riku asked Sora and Shadow as Kurai perched on the silverette's shoulder.  
"Riku! Kurai! What are you doing here?" Sora and Shadow asked. An image of Kairi flashed in our minds' eye, and the scene changed again.  
"Did you find her?" they asked. The scene changed again, and they were standing on a pirate ship.  
"I still can't believe it," Sora murmured in amazement. "I really flew. Wait 'til I tell Kai-" Kairi's face flashed by again. "I wonder if she'll believe me. Probably not." A small fairy floated in front of Sora and Shadow. The scene changed again. A powerful man walked past Sora, Shadow, and their friends.  
"We're searching, too," Sora and Shadow told him.  
"For your light?" the man asked. "Don't lose sight of it." The scene changed again.  
"Sora, Shadow, where are you going?" a little piglet asked.  
"We're gonna go look for our friends," they told him and the other animals in the dream. "They're waiting for us." The scene changed as the animals waved in farewell.  
"Where are Donald and Goofy?" Sora yelled to Riku and Kurai as Shadow growled beside the brunette.  
"Instead of worrying about them, you should be worrying about her," Riku said, Kurai smirking, and Kairi's face flashed in our minds when Riku said "her". Sora and Shadow locked a keyhole. Then we saw them as they walked to a large castle we didn't recognize. _The dream ended, but before it did, we saw a girl in white standing before us.  
"Who are you?" we asked. The girl turned around and smiled. We woke up and felt weird, just like the past few days. I thought there was someone in the room with us, but when we turned to look, no one was there.  
"Huh…?" Roxas muttered. We quickly got ready for the day, and left for the Usual Spot. When we got there, however, there was a note waiting for us. It read: "Meet at the station. Today's the day we hit the beach—and don't sweat it about the munny! –Hayner" We made our way out to Market Street, and saw Olette and Pence walking towards us.  
"Hey," we greeted them.  
"Morning," Olette said, and suddenly the pair froze in their tracks.  
"Huh…?" I said, bewildered. We ran over, but were stopped by the girl in white from last night's dream.  
"Hello, Roxas and Night," she told us.  
"Uh…Hi…And you are…?" We asked, but she held up her hand as though to quiet us.  
"I wanted to meet you both at least once," she told us. I tilted my head to the side, puzzled.  
"Us?" Roxas said.  
"Yes, you," she said, and left us while we scratched our heads and Olette and Pence unfroze.  
"Olette dragged me along to go shopping," Pence complained. They were acting as though nothing had happened!  
"Hey, you wanna come with us?" Olette asked, just as casual.  
"Um, uhh, wait…did you just see that…" Roxas and I stammered, and looked in the direction where the girl in white had gone.  
"They're stalling," Pence said.  
"Very well, then. We'll see you later, Roxas and Night, okay?" Olette told us, and the pair left. We looked in the direction the girl had left again.  
"Did she go to that haunted mansion?" I wondered. We ran to the Tram Common and saw her standing by the hole that led to the woods. "Huh?" we said as a dark cloud appeared, and some of those white things from before tried to grab us.  
"Let us go!" we yelled at them. We ran back to the Tram Common, but they were still chasing us. We ran to the Sandlot, where Seifer, Rai, Fuu, and Vivi were.  
"Hey, chicken wuss," Seifer taunted, and we stopped when the creatures entered.  
"Who's that?" Fuu wondered. Rai and Fuu got into their fighting positions as Vivi fled and hid.  
"I dunno, but they've already crossed the line," Seifer said. "Find a weapon!" Roxas grabbed the Struggle bat from before, and I braced myself for a fight. We tried to fight the creatures, but the bat was having no effect, nor was my claws. Roxas and I were thrown back, and noticed that Seifer and the others were frozen in place.  
"Not good," Roxas said as we tried to back away, the white creatures following us.  
"Roxas, Night! Use the Keyblade and light!" We looked to see where the voice was coming from, and it was that girl in white, again! She stood on top of a building, watching us. One of the creatures attacked, and we tried to shield ourselves with our arms, but everything went white. Suddenly, we were standing on top of a large platform, where there was a blue image of Sora and Shadow beneath our feet. We looked about, and a sword, a shield, and a staff appeared in bursts of light, where they hovered. We chose the sword, and it turned into the Keyblade, and my claws began to glow again. We were attacked again by the same white things, but this time, we were actually able to fight them off. We beat them, and a door appeared nearby. A bodiless voice emanated from it. It said, "Be careful. Beyond that door is a completely different world. But don't be afraid." We walked towards the door. "Don't stop walking…"  
We went through the door, and ended up climbing a flight of stairs, where there was another door. We entered this one, and beyond it was a giant white beast. We were forced into combat, seeing as there was no way out. We fought, yelling our combos as we used them.  
"Argh!" Roxas yelled as he fell when the beast pulled the platform away. We rotated in midair, and Roxas threw me and his Keyblade at the beast. After that attack, it was defeated. It started to collapse on us, and we tried to run, but there wasn't a place to go. We almost got pulled into the darkness, when that girl in white caught and saved us. Suddenly, we were in a white room, and the girl was standing in front of us. She placed a finger to her lips before we could say anything.  
"My name is Naminé," she told us. "Roxas and Night…do you remember your true names?" The cloaked man and creature from the station appeared and grabbed Naminé.  
"Say no more, Naminé," the man told her sternly. She struggled against him.  
"But if no one tells them, Roxas and Night will…" she protested.  
"It's best they don't know the truth," the creature said. Roxas and I glared at them furiously.  
"Hey! You're those pickpockets!" Roxas yelled at them while I snarled. The man held his hand out and a dark portal appeared behind us. We jumped away from it, but the man shoved us through anyway. We woke up in the Sandlot.  
"Seifer, strike a pose, y'know?" Rai's voice said.  
"How's this?" Seifer asked.  
"That's totally perfect, y'know!" Rai cheered. Roxas and I saw Fuu taking pictures of Seifer as he stood over us, Rai and Vivi standing behind her.  
"How 'bout one more, y'know?" Rai asked. Roxas and I stood up and I growled angrily at them.  
"What's that for?!" Roxas demanded.  
"Keepsake," Fuu said.  
"Those freaks in the white jumpsuits are gone, y'know?" Rai told us.  
"Cakewalk," Fuu chimed in.  
"What were those things?" I asked.  
"Outsiders, that's what," Seifer said. Roxas and I shook our heads. "And if they don't wise up to the rules around here, then I might have to take 'disciplinary measure.'"  
"Oh yeah, Seifer's always lookin' after the town, y'know?" Rai agreed. Roxas and I looked over to see that Hayner, Pence, and Olette had arrived. Hayner huffed off, looking angry about what he thought we had been doing. He must've thought we were hanging with Seifer's gang.  
"Wait up!" Roxas and I yelled, and ran after them.  
"Hey! No chickening out of the tournament tomorrow!" Seifer yelled after us.  
"We'll be waitin', y'know?" Rai yelled as well and I rolled my silver eyes. We arrived at the Usual Spot where they were already having ice cream together.  
"So…you two hung out with Seifer's gang today?" Pence asked sadly.  
"N-no…It's not like that…" we tried to explain. "Oh yeah! How was the beach? Wasn't that today?"  
"We didn't go," Olette told us. "It wouldn't be the same without you two, right?"  
"…Sorry," Roxas and I mumbled. "Hey…how 'bout we go tomorrow? We could get those pretzels and…" Hayner interrupted us.  
"I promised I'd be somewhere," he said.  
"Ohhh…Oh!" we gasped, remembering the promise we made to Hayner about The Struggle Tournament. We waited for a response from Hayner, but he got up instead.  
"I'm outta here," he said, and left. Roxas and I went home for the day. We dreamt about Sora and Shadow again.  
_"It's up to us. Only the Keyblade and darkness masters can open the secret door and change the world," Riku and Kurai said. They stole the Keyblade and light from Sora and Shadow, but the light turned to darkness. The scene changed.  
"But I'm not gonna betray Sora and Shadow, either!" Goofy said, and blocked an attack that was aimed at Sora and Shadow. Donald ran over.  
"All for one and one for all!" Donald said.  
"Our friends are our power!" Sora and Shadow yelled, and reclaimed the Keyblade and light from Riku and Kurai. The scene changed again, and there was a beast standing in front of them.  
"So, your hearts won this battle," he said. The scene changed again. Riku and Kurai were attempting to attack Sora and Shadow.  
"It is I, Ansem! Lead me into everlasting darkness!" the pair yelled in unison. They tried to strike down Sora and Shadow, when the pair saw Kairi and heard her yell in their minds, "Sora! Shadow!" They caught the blow with the Keyblade and Shadow's tail.  
"Forget it! There's no way you're taking Kairi's heart!" Sora and Shadow shouted at their friends. We saw Sora and Shadow stab themselves with the weapon Riku and Kurai had used, and they dispelled into points of light. The scene changed, and Kairi saved Sora and Shadow with an embrace, which changed them from a Heartless to normal.  
"Kairi," Sora and Shadow murmured, as Sora hugged Kairi. She smiled at him. The scene changed. It was the man who had warned Sora and Shadow about the Keyblade and light.  
"We may never meet again, but we'll ever forget each other," he told Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow.  
"No matter where we are, our hearts will bring us together again," the woman from before told them. The scene changed. Kairi handed something to Sora and Shadow.  
"Take this. It's my lucky charm," Kairi told him. "Be sure to bring it back to me."  
"Don't worry. We promise," Sora and Shadow told her.  
"Promise," she said. Sora and Shadow were shown sealing another keyhole.  
"Don't ever forget. Wherever you go, I'm always with you," Kairi told them._ The dream ended, and we woke up. I looked at Roxas, and he was looking out the window.  
"Right…'Promise'…" he muttered. Roxas moved his hand as though striking with the Keyblade, then rubbed the back of his head. "What a mess…"

A/N: Okay, I realize that Chapter 1 may have had a bit of an error in the second dream sequence, seeing as if Riku's in that one, then I forgot to edit in Kurai. Also, if I mentioned in Night's Story that he's black and white, he's actually silver. SORRY! R&R, peeps!


	3. Close To The End Of Summer Vacation

A/N: And chapter 3! I've lost track of how many times I've updated today, you know that? Anyway, enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Night, & Kurai.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 3

Getting Closer To The End Of Summer Vacation…

Roxas and I ran out to the Usual Spot, hoping to meet Hayner and everyone else, but they weren't there. We ran back outside, where a shopkeeper caught our attention.  
"Hurry to the Sandlot!" he yelled "You're gonna be late!" We quickly ran to the Sandlot, where we joined everyone for the tournament. The announcer spoke, and everyone was riled up for the tournament. We heard our friends cheer us on, and Hayner was cheered for, too.  
The announcer said, "Yes, the crowd is fired up, so you know what comes next: Let's…"  
"STRUGGLE!" the crowd roared. As the announcer continued to speak, we watched Hayner, who was standing nearby, get ready to fight. Once he had told us to head over and hear the rules and we had heard them, we got ready for our match with Hayner. We walked onto the stage, and Hayner pointed his club at us. The crowd went wild with excitement. Roxas and I looked at him apologetically.  
"Hey…Sorry about yesterday," we said quietly. Hayner lowered his club.  
"What, you still worried about that?" he asked. "You two need to let that stuff go."  
"We've got a lot on our minds," we admitted.  
"Sorry, man," Hayner said. Roxas and I shook our heads. "Wait, what am I sorry for?" Hayner smiled at us, and we smiled right back, which meant everything was good between us again. Roxas and I readied ourselves for the fight.  
"Our first match of today's Struggle Tournament will be between Roxas and Night and their best friend Hayner!" the announcer yelled into the microphone.  
"Ready, Roxas and Night?" Hayner yelled, and we quickly moved in and attacked. We were swift in defeating Hayner, and we stood back once he was beaten.  
"And the winner is Roxas and Night!" the announcer yelled, and Roxas's arm was held up as he was declared the winner. We waved to the crowd. "Not even friendship will slow these guys down. And Hayner put up a great fight, too!" We ran over to Hayner and spoke to him.  
"I lost. Aww, I can't believe it!" Hayner groaned. He got to his feet. "I guess I taught you two well."  
"We had a lot of fun fighting you," Roxas said and I grinned. Hayner smiled, then stopped and folded his arms.  
"Yeah, well I didn't, wise guys," he grumbled.  
"Hey, let's find a way to cheer you up," I said.  
"Nah, that's all right," Hayner assured us. He mock punched Roxas's hand, and then began to leave. He almost ran right into Seifer, though.  
"Out of the way," Seifer spat.  
"You in a rush to lose?" Hayner taunted. Roxas and I looked in surprise at the sudden appearance of Vivi next to us. He giggled, and took his place on the stage. Roxas and I quickly walked off, leaving Seifer and Vivi alone on the stage.  
"Don't mess with your elders," Seifer warned Vivi.  
"Whew, just look at those sparks fly!" the announcer said. "I guess Seifer didn't expect to fight one of his own boys!" Seifer and Vivi faced each other down. Vivi flew at Seifer, who jumps away with Vivi in pursuit.  
"When did Vivi get so tough?" Hayner asked us. Roxas and I shrugged, not knowing how or when Vivi got this tough. After the two guys exchanged glancing blows from one another, Seifer blocked Vivi's slashes and knocked him away, making Vivi drop an orb.  
"You're mine!" Seifer yelled, and lunged for it. Vivi suddenly returned, however, and took Seifer down with a single blow.  
"I-I'm not sure what just happened…Um…but…the winner is Vivi!" the announcer called out. "In a positively blistering comeback!" Seifer sat up and shook his head. He got to his feet and stormed past Roxas and me.  
"That's not Vivi," he muttered angrily.  
"Huh?" Roxas and I said.  
"Thrash 'im," Seifer told us, and joined Rai and Fuu, and the trio left. The producer came over to Hayner, Roxas, and I and gave us a little bit of good news.  
"It looks like Seifer's withdrawn from the Struggle for third place," he told us.  
"So I'm in third now?" Hayner asked excitedly. "Aw, baby!"  
The producer handed Roxas and Vivi each a battle club, and told them, "Keep it clean, fellas." Roxas and I stared Vivi down as he left the stage.  
"And now, the match you've been waiting for: Roxas and Night vs. Vivi!" the announcer told everyone. Roxas and I began the match, and we continued to strike Vivi again and again, all the while dodging his abnormally powerful attacks. Right as we went for the final blow, however, we stopped and looked around; the entire Sandlot had been frozen in time. Vivi suddenly turned into one of the white things from before, and we jumped back as more appeared.  
"Again?!" Roxas and I gasped. The Keyblade replaced the Struggle club, and my claws glowed again. "Again…" Roxas and I fought the white things, and quickly defeated them. Suddenly, we were alerted to someone in a black coat clapping behind us. We whipped around quickly, and saw he had a different build than the other one. Taller and lankier.  
"Roxas and Night. All right. Fight fight fight," he said, and we watched him warily. He got closer to us. "You really don't remember? It's me. You know, Axel." He removed his hood as he said his name, revealing flaming red spiked hair.  
"Axel?" we said in confusion. We had never seen this guy before in our lives. He had to be mistaken.  
"Talk about blank with a capital 'B'. Man oh man, even the dusks aren't gonna crack this one," he said, and summoned chakrams to himself with a small burst of flames.  
"Wait a sec, tell us what's going on!" Roxas and I protested. Axel looked around as he spoke.  
"This town is his creation, right?" Axel asked. "Which means we don't have time for a Q & A. You're both coming with me, conscious or not. Then you'll hear the story." Axel got ready to fight, but a strange presence flew around Roxas and me. "Uh-oh," Axel growled.  
Roxas and I sighed and looked at the Keyblade. Roxas threw it down and yelled, "What's going ON?!" I snarled with frustration. Suddenly, the Keyblade reappeared in Roxas's hand in a flash of light.  
"Numbers 13 and 13½. The Keyblade and light have chosen," Axel said. He readied himself to fight again, and we glared at him. Roxas prepped himself, and I lowered into a hunting crouch.  
"Okay, fine!" we yelled at him. "You asked for it!"  
"That's more like it!" Axel said, and we leapt into a fight with him. We had to dart this way and that, run to and fro, and strike continuously. We dealt a finishing smash to him, and he leapt back, defeated. "Not bad, Roxas and Night." Suddenly, a man clad in dark red clothing appeared.  
"So it was you," Axel said. He threw his flaming chakrams at the man, but they didn't even make contact. The man looked at us.  
"Roxas and Night, this man speaks nonsense!" he told us.  
"Roxas and Night, don't let him deceive you!" Axel yelled to us.  
"Roxas, Night!"  
"Roxas, Night!"  
The two of them shouted our names, and we couldn't take it anymore. We held our heads in our hands, and said, "Hayner…Pence…Olette…Hayner! Pence! Olette!"  
We were suddenly back at the Struggle competition, and the crowd was cheering as Vivi collapsed in front of us.  
"What? What just happened?" the announcer wondered. Vivi struggled to his feet and looked around.  
"Huh?…How did I get here?" Vivi left, and Hayner, Pence, and Olette rushed onto the stage.  
"Roxas!" Olette said.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, Roxas and Night—our new top Strugglers!" the announcer said, and everyone cheered. Hayner noticed that something was bothering us.  
"Roxas, Night?" he said curiously. Suddenly the fans in the crowd were in an uproar, as Setzer walked onto the stage. I groaned and rolled my eyes as the fan girls screamed.  
"Roxas, Night! It's starting!" Olette told us, and they left the stage. Setzer was just drinking the attention like it was an elixir. The producer walked onto the stage.  
"You three, play fair now," he told us, and handed Roxas and Setzer their Struggle clubs. "You're at the top of the bracket."  
"There's only room for one up here," Setzer said.  
"Well, may the best man win!" the producer said, and left the stage. Setzer turned his attention to us.  
"Hey, Rucksack," Setzer said. "How about you throw the match for me?"  
"Roxas, Night! Focus!" Hayner yelled to us. We glared at Setzer.  
"Let me win, and I'll make it worth your while," he continued to offer.  
"Get real!" I snapped at him.  
"Roxas and Night, our underdog heroes, versus Setzer, our defending champion!" the announcer yelled. "The winner of this match will be the true champion! That's bragging rights for a whole year, folks!"  
"Whatever you think is right, you're wrong," Setzer warned us. "And that is a big mistake." We leapt into combat, and quickly beat Setzer, no sweat.  
"I'm not supposed to lose!" Setzer groaned. He left the stage, looking bitter. The crowd cheered our names as he left, and we felt really good about ourselves. Our friends came running onto the stage, and they gathered around us.  
"Roxas, Night!" Hayner yelled.  
"You did it!" Olette cheered.  
"That was awesome, Roxas and Night!" Pence praised. We earned the trophy with the four crystals on it, and a championship belt. We waved to the crowd, and they roared with a frenzy of excitement. Later, we were all sitting on the Clock Tower, holding the trophy. We snapped off the yellow crystal, and tossed it to Olette. Roxas tossed the red one to Hayner, and I tossed the green one to Pence. They each caught them, and we snapped off the blue one. We held it up to the setting sun, and looked at it.  
"As promised," we said.  
"Thanks a ton, Roxas and Night!" Pence said, and held his up, too.  
"One more treasure for us to share," Hayner said. He held up his crystal, as did Olette.  
"I've got a present, too…for all of us," Olette said, and she pulled out five ice cream bars.  
"Whoa!" Hayner said. Roxas and I stood up suddenly, but teetered and fell off of the Clock Tower in what felt like slow motion.  
We heard a voice in our minds that sounded like Naminé's, but wasn't quite. We called out in our minds, "Naminé? Naminé, what's happening to us?" The voice that answered back we recognized immediately. It was Kairi's.  
"Who are you?" she asked us in our minds. "And that's not my name. I'm Kairi."  
"Kairi…We know you," we thought back. "You're that girl he likes, and his dragon, too."  
"Who? Please, names!" she begged.  
"We're Roxas and Night," we told her.  
"Okay, Roxas and Night, but can you tell me THEIR names?" she asked. The new voices that answered in our minds we recognized, too, but couldn't put a name to right away.  
"You don't remember our names? Thanks a lot, Kairi!" they said. "Okay, we guess we can give you a hint. They both start with an 'S!'"

We woke up in our beds, and sat up. We sighed heavily.  
"We were dreaming…but which parts…were the dream?" Roxas and I wondered aloud, and looked out the window. We later joined our friends at the Usual Spot, and Olette stood over us, her hands on her hips.  
"Only three days left of summer vacation—so don't even mention that assignment!" Hayner warned her.  
"But we agreed we'd get it finished today," Olette argued.  
"Yesterday…we fell off the station tower, didn't we?" Roxas and I asked, feeling confused.  
"You wouldn't be here if you did!" Hayner pointed out.  
"But man, that was a close one…" Pence agreed.  
"Stop changing the subject!" Olette snapped at all four of us.  
"Okay already!" Hayner said. "You win. We'll do the homework. Stupid independent study. So, anybody got any bright ideas for a topic?"  
"Maybe we could study the stuff that happening to Roxas and me," I suggested. "You know, the dreams—the guys in white…"  
"Forget it," Hayner told us.  
"Why?"  
"You know, things have been weird with you two and the town since the photos were stolen, right?" he asked us.  
"Well, tomorrow we're gonna search the town and find out what's been goin' on," Pence told us.  
"Lot's of people are helping out," Olette added.  
"All that for the two of us?" Roxas said in surprise. We brightened up considerably at that. "We'll go get some ice cream!" We quickly left and brought back some Sea-Salt Ice Cream for the five of us.  
While enjoying our ice cream, Pence said, "There's this strange rumor going around. Wanna hear it? You know the stone steps at Sunset Station? We use 'em all the time, without even thinking about it. But—and this is the weird part—the steps count different going up and down!"  
"Seriously?!" Hayner gasped.  
"And there are six other weird stories like that," Pence added. "It's like…the seven wonders of Twilight Town."  
"We should investigate those for our school project!" Hayner suggested. "Pence, you're a genius!"  
"There might be other rumors going around, too. Let's split up!" Pence said. "I'm gonna look for the seven wonders…"  
"Olette and I will find some new rumors! C'mon!" Hayner said, and he and Olette took off.  
"That leaves you two and me, Roxas and Night," Pence said. "Let's try the train first. To the station!" We left for the station. "Our time has come! Our hunt for the seven wonders begins!" Hayner and Olette joined us at that moment.  
"Whoa! Fin new rumors already?" Pence asked, looking surprised.  
"Nothing on Market Street," Olette informed him.  
"You twerps aren't gonna scoop us," Hayner said. "We're going to the terrace with you."  
"Hayner, it's not a race!" Olette scolded.  
"Well, it is now!" Hayner said.  
"C'mon, we can all go," I said, and we left on the train. While on the train, the others pulled out their crystals that we had given to them yesterday. We searched for our blue one, but it wasn't there. We sat down, feeling miserable. When we got to the Sunset Station, Hayner ran out with Olette.  
"Olette! Hurry!" he yelled, and they ran off somewhere. Roxas and I stretched for a second, and turned to Pence once off the train.  
"Huh. Aren't these the steps that count different going up and down?" Roxas asked Pence.  
"Umm…actually, it's the stupidest thing ever, but…" Pence said. He explained Rai was the one who counted.  
"What? So…he just counted wrong?" I said. Pence nodded, and Roxas and I sighed, the sound coming out like a groan.  
"Hey, no worries," he assured us. Roxas and I investigated the rest of the mysteries, but they all turned out to be total fakes. Once we had finished checking out the ones at the Sunset Terrace, we turned to Pence.  
"You know…that last wonder wasn't exactly wonderful," Roxas told Pence.  
"I understand, say no more," Pence replied. "But this next one's gonna be really great! Wonder Number Six!" Hayner and Olette joined us on the hill.  
"We got another lead!" Hayner told us.  
"'The Ghost Train Mystery'…" Olette informed us.  
"Everybody knows about Wonder Number Six!" Pence said.  
"Yeah, well, I didn't," Hayner replied.  
"Did you find out where the train runs?" I asked eagerly.  
"You can see it from Sunset Hill," Olette answered. We all gathered at Sunset Hill, where we watched for the Ghost Train.  
"If the rumors are true, it'll be here any minute," Pence said. "…For they say the train is empty. No driver, no conductor, no passengers…NO RETURN." We eventually ended up getting tired of waiting and laid down on the ground.  
"We've gotta make it to the beach next year," Olette commented.  
"Yeah. We better get jobs the second vacation starts," Hayner agreed.  
"Good afternoon, slackers," Seifer said. He approached us on the hill. "What are you doing out here?"  
"What do you care?" Hayner asked.  
"I don't. Tell me anyway," Seifer said.  
"We're waiting for the ghost train," Pence answered.  
"Waiting for the ghost train!" Seifer mocked Pence, and laughed. Roxas and I stood up and glared at him, annoyed. "Why does looking at you two always tick me off?" Seifer wondered.  
"I dunno. Maybe it's destiny," Roxas and I replied.  
"Destiny…In that case, let's be friends," Seifer said. "I don't feel like cooperating with destiny."  
"When have you ever cooperated with anything?" Hayner pointed out validly. Seifer turned around and began to leave.  
"Seifer!" Olette said.  
"I know. Tomorrow," he said, and left.  
"Look!" Roxas and I yelled, and pointed. We saw a mysterious blue and gold train decorated with moons and stars pull through the underpass. "It's really true…And there's really no one aboard! What's the catch? There's gotta be a catch, right?" We looked at our friends, but they looked at each other, not knowing what to say.  
"Then it's real? Let's go to the station!" I shouted, and Roxas and I led the way. The train was there when we arrived. "Let's go in!" I said eagerly, but Hayner caught Roxas by the arm, holding us back. "What?"  
"Um…You'll get hurt," Hayner told us worriedly. We looked back, and the train was gone.  
"Huh?" we said.  
"The train will be arriving shortly," the announcement said above us. The usual orange train pulled in, and some passengers came out.  
"C'mon," Hayner told us.  
"A train came from the beach. There was no driver, right?" we asked.  
"Let's go…" Pence said.  
"Right?!" Roxas and I demanded, but Olette shook her head and Hayner pushed us onto the train. When we got back, we were walking along Market Street.  
"Let's go home and work on the paper," Hayner said.  
"'The rumors were bogus. The end,'" Pence said.  
"We can still make it sound good if we write about all the work we did," Olette pointed out.  
"But what about the last one—the seventh wonder?" I asked.  
"Who cares?" Hayner said, trying to deter us.  
"We do. C'mon, Pence," Roxas pressed stubbornly.  
"Whatever!" Hayner scoffed.  
"Roxas, Night…" Olette murmured. Pence sighed at our determination.  
"It's at that haunted mansion," he told us. The three of them left back to the Usual Spot, while Roxas and I quickly left for the mansion. Once there, we watched it.  
"You know something…" Pence's voice said, and we turned around, surprised by his sudden appearance. "We were gonna check the mansion out tomorrow. It _is_ the most suspicious place."  
"Right…" we muttered.  
"Even Seifer's gang was gonna help," Pence added.  
"Seifer?" we said doubtfully.  
"Yeah, Hayner asked him to," Pence explained. We looked at the dusty window of the mansion, and I could've sworn I saw Naminé there.  
"So, what're we lookin' for?" Roxas asked him.  
"Well, they say there's a girl who appears at the second floor window even though no one's lived here for years," Pence explained. Roxas and I looked back up at the window. We were suddenly inside the room. It was a room with a long white table and pictures on the walls. Everything but the colors in the pictures was white. One of pictures focused on Kairi with a paopu fruit.  
"Roxas, Night…" Naminé's voice said.  
"Naminé?" we said. We saw another one of the pictures, and it showed us and Axel, all three of us in those black coats. "This is…us? …And Axel's here, too."  
"You three ARE best friends…" Naminé told us.  
"Very funny," we scoffed.  
"Don't you want to know the truth about who you both really are?" she asked.

A/N: And another chapter is finished! R&R, peeps!


	4. Looks Like Our Summer Vacation's Over

A/N: This is the end of Night's POV, I promise! Now to move on to Shadow's part after this chapter. Also, I now know this'll be the 16th update in one day! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Night, Shadow, & Kurai.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 4

It Looks Like Our Summer Vacation Is…Over…

"No one knows us better than us," we told her.  
"Of course…" Naminé replied.  
"But…we don't get what's been happening lately," I murmured. We saw a picture of Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow.  
"You know these four, don't you?" she asked.  
"Yeah. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow," we answered. "They're from the dreams."  
"About a year ago, some things happened, and I had to take apart the memories chained together in Sora and Shadow's hearts. But now…I'm putting them all back exactly the way they were," Naminé told us. "It's taken me a long time, but pretty soon, Sora and Shadow will be back to their old selves again. The process had been affecting you, too, Roxas and Night."  
"You mean…the dreams?" I asked.  
"Yes…Roxas and Sora are connected, and you and Shadow are as well. And…in order for Sora and Shadow to become completely whole again…They need you both." We saw a picture of Sora with Roxas and Shadow with me.  
"Us? What for?" Roxas asked.  
"You each hold half of what they are…They need you, Roxas and Night," she answered. We were sitting at one end of the white table, with Naminé at the other end.  
"Naminé…who are you?" my blonde friend asked.  
"I'm a witch with power over Sora and Shadow's memories and those around them," she told us.  
"A witch?" I repeated in confusion.  
"That's what DiZ called me," she explained. "But I don't know why I have this power…I just do. I'm not even sure there's a right way for me to use it."  
"Hmm…We can't help you there," Roxas said. We looked over at the drawing of us and Axel. "It's funny…Suddenly we feel like we don't know ourselves at all…I guess we would like to know. What do you know about us…that we don't?"  
"You…you never were supposed to exist, Roxas and Night," she said, looking regretful.  
"What…? How could you say such a thing…even if it were true?" I asked in shock.  
"I'm sorry. I guess some things really are better left unsaid."  
Pence shook us out of what he thought we were doing: having a staring contest with the window.  
"Roxas! Night!" he said. We snapped out of it.  
"Huh?" Roxas said.  
"Did you see her?" Pence asked eagerly.  
"Yeah. Watch the window—closely," we told him. Pence watched the window for a moment, but Naminé was gone.  
"Oh, lame. That's just the curtains moving," Pence muttered, looking disappointed. "There must be a draft somewhere. I'm surprised this old place even has curtains." Naminé returned to the window once Pence had looked away.  
"…Yeah," I said, and sighed.  
"Well, let's go back to the Usual Spot," Pence said. "Hayner and Olette are waiting." Once we returned, Olette was waiting for us.  
"Hey guys, how'd it go?" Olette asked first.  
"The girl in the window turned out to be a curtain flapping in the wind," Pence told her.  
"I figured as much," Olette replied. "The report's already done."  
"All right!" Pence said happily.  
"So, wanna go find Hayner? He's probably at the Station," Olette said. Roxas and I looked up. "You know…we only have two more days together."  
"Huh?" I said.  
"Summer vacation, remember?" she reminded us.  
"Oh…right," Roxas said. We left for the Station, and climbed to the top, where Hayner was already eating some ice cream.  
"Tomorrow we search the town," Hayner said as we sat down.  
"Next day's the fair," Pence added.  
"The last day of summer," Olette said sadly.  
"Don't say that!" Hayner complained. "You'll give me an ulcer!"  
"Not if you explode from all that ice cream first," Pence pointed out, and everyone but Roxas and I laughed as the bells rand in the background. That night, Roxas and I dreamed about Sora and Shadow again. They were standing in a dark place, where it looked like a wreck.  
_"Gawrsh, is that all that's left of the worlds taken by the Heartless?" Goofy asked.  
"Those worlds will all be restored if we beat Ansem, right?" Sora guessed.  
"But, if we do beat him and all these worlds become restored and disconnected, what's gonna happen to this place?" I asked. "And to us?" The scene changed, and they were fighting a giant beast. After that, the scene changed again, and they were in a dark place fighting a man with white hair and dark skin.  
"All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end," the man said. We assumed he was Ansem. "The heart is no different. You see, darkness is the heart's true essence." The scene became static for a split second, and Sora and Shadow were in their last fight with Ansem.  
"That's not true!" they said together. "The heart may be weak. And sometimes it may even give in. But we've learned deep down, there's a light that never goes out!" Sora and Shadow were remembering Ansem's defeat.  
"Kingdom Hearts! Fill me with the power of darkness!" Ansem yelled.  
"You're wrong. We know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is Light!" Sora and Shadow yelled.  
"Now Sora and Shadow! Let's close this door for good!" a higher pitched voice said, and a mouse stepped in to lock the door to Kingdom Hearts. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow helped close the door to Kingdom Hearts.  
"Take care of her," Riku and Kurai said right before the door closed. Sora and Shadow ran to Kairi.  
"Kairi!" they yelled back.  
"Sora! Shadow!" she yelled. She fell, but Sora caught her by grasping her hand.  
"Kairi, remember what you said before? We're always with you, too. We'll come back to you. We promise!" they promised her.  
"I know you will!" she cried out. They broke away from each other, and Kairi floated away. The scene changed. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow were walking along a winding pathway.  
"Well, now what do we do?" Donald wondered aloud.  
"We've gotta find Riku, Kurai, and King Mickey," Sora and Shadow answered.  
"But, uh, where do we start lookin' for that there door to the light?" Goofy asked. They saw a dog walking by with a letter in his mouth.  
"Pluto?" Donald said curiously.  
"Gawrsh, that's the King's seal!" Goofy gasped.  
"Have you seen King Mickey?" Sora and Shadow asked Pluto. Pluto turned and ran down the path. "Let's go!" At nighttime, Sora and Shadow were startled by a figure in black. They turned around to see it, but it's gone. They looked around for a second, then turned around again. The figure is slightly down the road, but as they ran to it, it faded away. Sora and Shadow walked to a castle at the end of the road.  
At a dark beach, three cloaked figures meet, one smaller than the other two and perching on the standing one's shoulder.  
"I've been to see them. They look a lot like you both," the one sitting down said.  
"Who are you?" the other two asked.  
In a mysterious dark city, while rain was falling, hundreds of Heartless rise from the ground. They surround two figures in black, one smaller than the other. The taller one takes out two Keyblades, Oathkeeper and Oblivion, while the smaller one began to glow under his coat. They prepare for combat, and take out several of the Heartless before looking up at the main skyscraper of the city. The rain had stopped for a moment, and an un-hooded but blindfolded young man and his dark grey dragon stood at the top of the skyscraper. The pair down below run up the side of the building, and the Keyblade wielder threw Oblivion up to the young man. The pair at the top dove down the building, and caught the Keyblade, but continued to fall past the pair running up. The young man and dragon looked at the pair as they passed, and the pair watched the young man. When they all four were at the bottom, they fought off the Heartless, then turned on each other, the pair turning on the young man and dragon. They exchanged blows until the one with Oathkeeper and the smaller cloaked figure had the young man and his companion knocked down.  
"Why?! Why do you have the Keyblade and light?!" the silverette and his friend demanded.  
"Shut up!" the standing pair yelled in response. They brought down a final blow to the silver-haired one and his dragon.  
_Roxas and I woke up the next morning when the dream ended. We felt weird, but nothing looked weird. We looked out the window, and then got ready for the day. When we got to the Usual Spot, the others were already there, talking.  
"Man, we could not sleep last night…" we said as we walked in, but they ignored us.  
"Guys?" Roxas said, and put his hand out towards Hayner, but his hand reached right through him. "Huh?" They all ran past us, not even feeling anything. We closed our eyes and sighed. I picked up a picture nearby that used to feature all of us, but now we weren't in the picture anymore. We left the Usual Spot, and suddenly, those white things appeared, and Axel did, too.  
"Look at what it's come to," he said, looking miserable. "I've been given these icky orders to destroy both of you—if you refuse to come back with me." Roxas thought quickly, and I lowered my guard a bit.  
"We're…best friends, right?" my blonde friend asked the redhead. Axel scratched his head.  
"Sure…but I'm not getting turned into a Dusk for…Wait a sec! You remember now?!" Axel gasped.  
"Y…yeah," we said, hesitating.  
"Great! But, you know, gotta make sure and all," Axel told us. 'Crap' I thought. "So, ummm…What's our boss's name?" We didn't answer, and Axel sighed sadly and looked down. "Can't believe this…" Roxas picked up a stick, and it became the Keyblade. My claws began to glow, and I growled at the white things. We quickly defeated the creatures, and Axel began to swing one of his chakrams to attack. Time froze around us as he did so, and a voice echoed in our heads.  
"Roxas, Night, to the mansion! The time has come!" the voice told us. We stopped and lowered our guard.  
"Hayner! Pence! Olette!" we yelled to the sky, but nothing happened this time. We fled to the mansion, and as time unfroze again, I heard Axel say something to himself sadly.  
"The Roxas and Night I know are long gone. Fine, I see how it is…"  
We ran to the old mansion, but the gate was locked.  
"Don't call us and then lock us out…" we muttered. Suddenly, we saw a vision in our minds of Sora and Shadow as they would unlock a keyhole. We did the same, and the gate unlocked. We ran inside, and some of the white things tried to pursue us, but the hooded man and his creature from before appeared and blocked them, summoning a wing-like sword to him and the creature glowing silver. We made our way to the white room, where Naminé had spoken to us. We walked past all of the pictures until we found one of us in the dark alleyway from our dream. We got a sudden headache as memories came flowing back to us. Thunder rumbled through the sky as a hooded Roxas and I walked through the dark streets. We passed Axel, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.  
"Your minds are made up?" he asked us as we paused.  
"Why did the Keyblade and light choose us? We have to know," Roxas and I said in unison. Axel shoved himself off the wall angrily.  
"You can't turn on the Organization!" he yelled at us. Our vision stopped, and we were in the white room with Naminé.  
"Organization XIII…they're a bad group," we said quietly.  
"Bad, or good, I don't know," she said. "They're a group of incomplete people who wish to be whole. To that end, they're desperately searching for something."  
"What?"  
"Kingdom Hearts." We chuckled. "Funny?" she asked.  
"It's just, we think—we've been running away from the question we really wanna ask: What's gonna happen to us now? Just tell us that. Nothing else really matters anymore." We walked over and leaned against the table.  
"You are…" Naminé flickered and disappeared.  
"Naminé!" we gasped, but the form of her broke into several pieces and disappeared. The man in red appeared in her place.  
"There's no knowledge that has the power to change your fates," he said coldly.  
"Even if it doesn't, we wanna know," Roxas and I said. "We have the right to know!"  
"A Nobody doesn't have the right to know," he responded. "Nor does it even have the right to _be_."  
"But what _is_ a Nobody?!" we demanded. The hooded man and creature from the gate appeared next to the man in red.  
"DiZ, we're out of time," they said. "Too many Nobodies!" A portal appeared behind the man in red, and it contained Naminé.  
"Roxas, Night. Nobodies like us are only half a person," she told us. "You won't disappear. You'll both be whole!"  
"We'll…disappear…?" we said, confused.  
"No further outbursts!" DiZ said furiously. He went over to Naminé.  
"No, you won't disappear! You'll—" DiZ covered her mouth and grabbed her. We ran over to try and help her, but the hooded man and his companion stopped us. Naminé pulled DiZ's hand off her mouth.  
"Roxas, Night! We will meet again. And then we can talk about everything. I may not know it's you, and you may not know it's me. But we will meet again. Someday soon. I promise!" she yelled to us, but DiZ and the hooded man and his creature dragged her through the dark portal.  
"Naminé!" we yelled, but they vanished. Eventually, we got to a place that looked like a lab, but had an odd machine in it. We saw a computer in front of us, and suddenly, our heads began to ache again. We grasped our heads in our hands as more memories flowed back into our minds. It was where we had left off in the dream. We were hooded, and confronting the silver-haired young man and his dragon.  
"Why?! Why do you have the Keyblade and light?!" they demanded of us.  
"Shut up!" we yelled at him, but the blindfolded ones struck us with their Keyblade and claws as we began to strike them. They knocked us back, and we became unconscious. Roxas and I were later lying under the odd machine we had seen when we walked in, DiZ and the hooded man and his companion standing over us.  
"Will it work?" the hooded man asked.  
"If we can maintain the simulated town until Naminé finishes chaining together Sora's and Shadow's memories," DiZ answered.  
"What will happen to Roxas and Night?" the smaller of the two questioned.  
"They hold half of Sora's and Shadow's power within them. In the end, they'll have to give it back," DiZ said, and sat down at the computer. "Until then, they'll each need a new personality to throw off their pursuers."  
"Poor things," the hooded man sighed. DiZ punched in some keys in the computer.  
"It's the fate of Nobodies," DiZ said coldly. The machine started up and changed Roxas and I into data, and we disappeared into the data. We snapped out of the memories, and used some of our power to attack the computer to vent our rage at what had happened. Once done, a door opened nearby. We went through the door, and were attacked by the Nobodies. When we had destroyed them all, Axel walked in.  
"Simply amazing, Roxas and Night," he said.  
"Axel," we breathed.  
"You really do remember me this time?" he said, and turned to us. "I'm SO FLATTERED!" His anger caused the edges of the room to erupt with flames. "But you're too late!" Roxas and I summoned all of our power to us, and I glowed with my power, while Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion to him.  
"Two?!" Axel gasped. He summoned his chakrams to him and smiled tauntingly. "Come here. I'll make it all stop."  
We lunged at him, and attacked until he hid in the flames. We concentrated, and when he burst out, Roxas threw one of the Keyblades at him, and I blasted him with light energy. He sank to his knees for a moment, which we took to attack again. We continued this pattern until Axel was beaten. Once defeated, he sank to his knees again, and the walls of fire dissipated around us. Roxas and I remembered the last conversation we'd had with Axel, in the alleyway of the dark streets.  
"You get on their bad side and they'll destroy you both!" Axel had yelled at us. We turned slightly.  
"No one would miss us," we said, uncaring and unfeeling. The redhead looked hurt, and he sank down a bit.  
"That's not true…I would," he murmured, and the memory faded. In the room, Axel was starting to fade away into the darkness he seemed to have come from.  
"Axel…" we murmured to him.  
"Let's meet again in the next life," Axel told us.  
"Yeah. We'll be waiting," we told him.  
"Sillies. Just because you have next lives…" Axel vanished into darkness. Roxas and I walked to where Axel had been, and then made our way into the next room. We saw some capsules there, and there were two with familiar faces in them.  
"…Donald…Goofy?" we said curiously. We left through the last door, where DiZ was waiting for us in a completely bright room. There was a single large capsule behind him.  
"At last, the Keyblade and light have chosen," DiZ said.  
"Who are you talking to? Us? Or Sora and Shadow?" we asked.  
"To half of Sora and Shadow, of course. You both reside in darkness. What I need is someone who can move about the realm of light and destroy Organization XIII."  
"Why? Who are you?" we questioned.  
"I am a servant of the world," he said, then laughed. "And if I'm a servant, you should consider yourselves tools, at best." Roxas summoned the Keyblade, and I snarled like a furious panther.  
"Was that…was that supposed to be a joke? 'Cause we're not laughing!" We lunged at him, but our attacks went right through him. We stood up straight, shocked and livid.  
"My apologies. This is only a data-based projection." Roxas screamed with rage, and I roared my fury to the ceiling. We struck futilely at the projection until we were worn out and gasping for air. DiZ vanished and reappeared behind us as we tried to catch our breath.  
"Come, over here," he said. We glared at DiZ.  
"We hate you so much…" we snarled at him.  
"You should share some of that hatred with Sora and Shadow. They're far too nice for their own good."  
"No! Our hearts belong to us!" we yelled, and made one last slash at DiZ. He disappeared, and the capsule glowed. The mechanical petals began to open and reveal Sora and Shadow inside. We relaxed ourselves.  
"Sora…Shadow…" we murmured to the sleeping Sora and Shadow inside. They floated there peacefully.  
"You're lucky. Looks like our summer vacation is…over."

A/N: I almost want to cry now, reading this, you know that? I miss Roxas! R&R, peeps!


	5. We're Back, But Where Are We?

A/N: And now for Chapter 5! Now for Shadow's POV. Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 5

We're Back, But Where Are We?

"Sora, Shadow?" a pair of voices from the darkness said.  
"Who's there?" we called out.  
"Sora!"  
"Shadow, wake up!"  
Sora and I woke up and the capsule we were in opened. We stretched vigorously, and Donald and Goofy laughed at Sora and how small his clothes had become on him. I joined in, snickering as well. We jumped out of the capsule and caught our friends in our arms.  
"Donald, Goofy!" we said happily, and we laughed and hopped in a circle. Jiminy Cricket jumped onto Sora's other shoulder, the one I wasn't perched on, and yawned.  
"That was some nap!" Jiminy yawned, and hopped onto the floor.  
"You mean, we were asleep?" Sora asked him.  
"I guess we musta been, or I don't think we'd be so drowsy…" Jiminy replied.  
"When do ya think we went to sleep?" Goofy wondered aloud.  
"Uhh…" Donald hesitated.  
"Let's see…We defeated Ansem…" Sora began.  
"Yep," Goofy confirmed.  
"…restored peace to the world…found Kairi…Oh yeah, and then we went to look for Riku and Kurai," I said. "I think that's right so far."  
"Then what?" Donald asked.  
"What does your journal say, Jiminy?" Goofy asked. Jiminy took out his book.  
"Gee, there's only one sentence…'Thank Naminé'. Hmm…I wonder who that is?" he said. We looked at one another and shook our heads, not recognizing the name.  
"Some journal that is," Donald scoffed.  
"Well, what do ya say we find out where we are?" Jiminy suggested. We walked out to the town, making our way to an alley where Sora and I paused.  
"You know, I think we've been to this town," Sora murmured, and I nodded in agreement, my black eyes glinting in the setting sun's light. Something about this place seemed to say, "I've been here!"  
"What's it called?" Donald asked us.  
"Hmm…Guess we must've imagined it." I shrugged, dismissing the thought. We walked back into an area where three teens were lazing about on old, ratty furniture, looking bored.  
"What do you want?" one of the teens asked in a hostile tone.  
"Um, nothing," Sora said, taken aback. "Just wondering what was back here."  
"Now you know," he snapped. "This is our spot.  
"Umm…" the other boy said. "You're…new around here, right?" he asked. "I'm Pence."  
"Hayner," the first one said. "Nice to meet you, but we got stuff to do, so catch ya later." He left.  
"My name's Olette," the third teen, a girl, said. "Hey, did you finish up the summer homework, yet? Independent studies are the worst, huh?"  
"Homework?" Sora said, confused. We looked back at Donald and Goofy, who shrugged.  
"Hey, what're your names?" Pence asked.  
"Oh, sorry," Goofy said. "We're Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow."  
"Hey there," Sora and I said with a friendly wave.  
"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow, we just met someone who was looking for you," Olette told us.  
"He sure seemed in a hurry," Pence added. "He had a black coat on so I couldn't see his face, but he had these big round ears." We looked at each other.  
"The King!" Donald said excitedly.  
"Where'd you see him?" I asked eagerly.  
"At the station," Pence answered.  
"The station. Thanks!" Sora said.  
"Well, we'd better get back to that assignment," Olette sighed.  
"Later!" Pence said, and they left. We looked at each other with excitement.  
"Oh boy! The King's trying to find us!" Donald cried out.  
"Yeah, let's get to the station!" I declared, and we left. We got to the station, but when we arrived, the King wasn't there. Instead, we got attacked by strange foes we'd never encountered before. They were white things, and neither Sora nor I recognized the emblem on them. We looked at each other and nodded. Sora summoned the Keyblade with expertise, and I summoned my light to me, unsheathing my claws. We leapt into action, and fought the strange beings with all of our strength, which wasn't much at the time. Eventually, we were tuckered out. Donald and Goofy fell down behind us, and Sora struggled to stay on his feet, but to no avail. My legs trembled, and I fell down next to him. The enemies were about to attack again, and Sora and I braced ourselves, Sora holding up his Keyblade as if to attempt to block it. When we had thought it was over, we opened our eyes, and saw the glittering gold Keyblade that only King Mickey used. We stared in shock, but Donald and Goofy pushed us down and out of the way.  
"Your Majesty?" Donald gasped.  
"Shh!" the King cautioned us, holding up a finger to his mouth. "You gotta board the train and leave town! The train knows the way." He held out a munny pouch. "Here." Sora took it from him, but before we could say anything, the King ran off down Market Street.  
"Your Majesty…" Donald murmured.  
"The King…Was that really him?" I wondered.  
"It coulda been…Yep, I know it was!" Goofy said with conviction.  
"Now we know he's okay!" Donald cried out happily.  
"The King was locked in the realm of darkness, right?" Sora asked, remembering.  
"Uh-huh," Goofy confirmed.  
"But we just saw him…" I pointed out.  
"Yep," Donald said.  
"And if the King is here, that means Riku's here!" Sora realized. I whimpered happily at that.

"And so is Kurai!" I cried out.  
"They gotta be!" Donald agreed.  
"Well, we're gonna go look for Riku and Kurai," Sora and I said. "Then the four of us can go back to the islands together. Kairi's there waiting for us! What are you two gonna do?" Goofy made a face.  
"Gawrsh, Sora and Shadow. Do ya have to ask?" he said. Sora and I laughed at him and Donald, who had made a face, too.  
"Hey! What's so funny?!" Donald demanded. They looked at each other, and we all laughed together.  
"What do ya say, guys?" Sora asked. "Let's stick together for one more journey." Donald and Goofy nodded.  
"To….where again?" I said, and Sora folded his hands behind his head like he sometimes does.  
"We hafta board the train!" Goofy reminded us.  
"Oh yeah," Sora said, and Donald sighed heavily. "C'mon!" We ran into the station, where we heard a voice call out behind us.  
"Wait up!" Hayner's voice shouted, and when we looked, the three teens were running over to us. "Hey, Sora and Shadow…"  
"What?" we said.  
"Nothing, but…" Hayner said, trailing off.  
"We came to see you off," Pence finished. "It just seemed like something we oughta do."  
"Oh…really? Thanks!" Sora said. A ringing sounded throughout the station.  
"You should hurry and get your tickets," Olette told us.  
"Right," I said. Sora pulled out the munny pouch, and Olette took notice of it.  
"What is it?" Donald asked her. Olette pulled out the exact same munny pouch from her pocket.  
"They're the same," Goofy commented.  
"Yeah," Olette agreed. Sora and I looked at both pouches and shrugged. We turned to the window.  
"Four tickets, please!" Sora told the teller, and they handed us four tickets. "We can't help feeling like we won't see this town again…" the brunette admitted.  
"Why not?" Donald asked.  
"You're thinkin' too much," Goofy said.  
"Yeah, you're right!" Sora said in realization, and we got ready to board the train. "Okay, let's go!" Donald and Goofy nodded.  
"Bye," Sora and I told the three teens. Donald and Goofy waved as they boarded the train.  
"Hey Sora, Shadow. You sure we haven't met before?" Hayner asked. We thought about it for a moment.  
"Positive. Why do you ask?" I told them.  
"I dunno," was Hayner's response, followed with a small shrug. We smiled, and a tear rolled down Sora's cheek, and I had one as well. The three looked at us, surprised, and we were surprised, too, as we brushed them away.  
"Huh?" we said, confused.  
"You two okay?" Olette asked.  
"Y-yeah. Don't know where it came from," we stammered. Hayner chuckled.  
"Pull it together," he said teasingly.  
"Right," we nodded, and boarded the train, waving farewell to our new friends. The train left, and we watched the window outside as the train rolled onward to our destination. Sora pulled out a blue crystal ball that was in the munny pouch, and we held it up to the light. "You know…" Donald sat down as we spoke. "We're sad."  
"We'll be back," Donald assured us.  
"Yeah," Goofy agreed. "We can visit Hayner ad those guys again." Once we got to our destination, we left the train and saw a tower with moons and stars patterned on it, just like the train was. We turned back as the train vanished behind us, and Sora laughed nervously.  
"There goes our ride," he said, and I nodded seriously. We spotted someone standing at the entrance to the tower, and we walked over to investigate.  
"What's goin' on?" Donald asked the person at the door.  
"I sent some of my lackeys inside to see if the master of this here tower's as big and tough as they say," the big guy at the door told us, his back facing us as he braced himself against the door. "Word is, he's a real powerful sorcerer. Which would make him the perfect bodyguard for me. See, it don't matter how tough he is—once he's a Heartless, he'll do as I say!"  
"A Heartless?!" Donald gasped.  
"That's right," the guy said. "They're those things that come out of the darkness in folks' hearts. Why, with all those Heartless at her side, my dear friend Maleficent is gonna conquer everything! And since I got me a debt to pay, I'm goin' 'round to a bunch of different worlds and buildin' an army of Heartless, special for her! Why am I talkin' to you pipsqueaks anyway? Go on, scram! I'm behind schedule as it is."  
"You oughta find somethin' nicer to do," Goofy suggested.  
"Says who?" he asked, and turned around and saw us. " Wha…AAAH! It's you!"  
"Pete?!" Donald and Goofy yelped.  
"What are you two nimrods doin' here?!" Pete demanded.  
"What are YOU doing here?" Donald snapped back.  
"You know this guy?" Sora and I asked curiously.  
"We sure do!" Goofy confirmed. "Pete's been causin' trouble for ages! His Majesty banished him to another dimension a long time ago. I wonder how he escaped." Pete laughed.  
"You wanna know how, eh?" he said. "Well, Maleficent busted me out, that's how! And now, your world—no, no, no, all the worlds—are gonna belong to yours truly. 'Cause Maleficent's gonna help me conquer 'em."  
"Maleficent…huh," Sora and I said, and we all started snickering at Pete.  
"What are you laughing at?!" he demanded. "Why, Maleficent's power is so great—"  
"She's toast!" I cackled.  
"Huh?" Pete said, confused.  
"Sorry, but Maleficent can't help ya now," Goofy told him.  
"Whaddaya mean?!" Pete demanded. Donald snickered even harder. "You! So you're the ones that did it!"  
"Well…we mighta had something to do with it," Sora said, folding his hands behind his head. Pete was mad at us now.  
"Heartless squad! Round up!" he yelled, and some Shadow Heartless appeared. Sora summoned his Keyblade, and we fought the Heartless with ease. Once beaten, Pete started to back away. "You just wait! Nobody, and I do mean nobody, messes with the mighty Pete!"  
"So, 'mighty' Pete, who lives in this tower anyway?" Sora asked.  
"Oh, ya don't know, eh?" Pete said. "Well, it's old Yen Sid. 'Course he's probably a Heartless by now."  
"Master Yen Sid lives here?!" Donald gasped, and ran up the stairs. Sora and I looked at Goofy, confused.  
"Yen Sid is the King's teacher!" Goofy told us.  
"Wow. Sounds powerful!" Sora said in awe, and we took off after Donald. Pete watched us go, and his jaw dropped in shock. We fought Heartless on the way up, and when we reached the top floor before reaching Yen Sid, Donald started complaining.  
"Heartless, Heartless, Heartless! Things haven't changed one bit!" he grumbled irritably.  
"Well, it's a good thing we're on the job, then," Goofy pointed out.  
"So the worlds aren't at peace after all then?" Sora said.  
"It would seem that way," I answered. We eventually reached the Sorcerer's Loft, where an old wizard was sitting at his desk, waiting for us. Donald and Goofy bowed to him respectfully.  
"Master Yen Sid! It's an honor!" Donald said, but Sora had other things in mind.  
"Hey there," Sora said casually. I slapped my forehead and groaned at that, the sound ringing slightly due to my black diamond armor. Donald and Goofy looked at Sora, slightly shocked.  
"Sora! Show some respect!" Donald chastised him. Yen Sid calmed Donald down, and addressed us.  
"So, you are Sora and Shadow," he said. "Now then, have you seen the King yet?"  
"Yes, we did, Master," Goofy answered. "But we didn't get a chance to talk to him."  
"Yes…the King has been quite busy of late," Yen Sid replied. "Therefore, it would seem that the task of instructing you four falls upon my shoulders. You have a perilous journey ahead of you. You must be well prepared." I sighed heavily at that.  
"You mean…we have to go on another quest?" I asked. "Sora and I were looking forward to finding our friends Riku and Kurai, so we could go back to the islands."  
"Yes. I know," Yen Sid answered calmly. "However, everything in your journey, Sora and Shadow, is connected. Whether you will find you way home to the islands…Whether you will return as a pair or with your friends…And whether or not the islands will still be there. And the keys that connect them all are you, Sora and Shadow."  
"We're…the keys?" we said in confusion, and Sora summoned his Keyblade to him, and my claws glowed in response.  
"Chosen wielders of the Keyblade and light!" Yen Sid declared. "You are both the keys that will open the door to light." Sora and I nodded. Yen Sid looked at Donald and Goofy, who stood up straight and nodded. Yen Sid waved his hand over the desk and a thick book appeared. It floated in the air and rotated towards Sora and me. It opened and landed at the edge of the table, as though inviting us to read it.  
"This book contains valuable knowledge that you will need for your journey," he told us. "Study it carefully. Once you have finished, we will speak of the enemies you will surely confront." Sora and I read the book, and looked at Master Yen Sid.  
"But wait a sec—how come the Heartless are still running around?" Sora and I asked him.  
"Your past endeavors did prevent an immense effusion of Heartless from the great darkness; make no mistake about that," he assured us. "However, the Heartless are darkness made real—and darkness lingers yet in every heart. The Heartless are fewer. But while darkness exists in a single heart, it will be difficult to eliminate them." We all four sighed heavily when he told us that.  
"Gawrsh, that must mean…if everybody's heart was full of light, them Heartless'd go away!" Goofy assumed. Yen Sid nodded, confirming Goofy's theory.  
"Now it is time to speak of the enemies that you will encounter," Yen Sid told us. He waved his hand, and an image of Donald appeared by the wall. The image changed to a Shadow Heartless. "If one such as you, Donald, yields to the darkness in their heart, they too will become a Heartless. But you know this. The Heartless are always lurking and ever seeking to capture new hearts. Never let your guard down! Now then…" He waved his hand again, and this time, an image of one of those things we fought at the station appeared next to the Shadow.  
"At times, if someone with a strong heart and will—be they evil or good—becomes a Heartless, the empty shell they leave behind begins to act with a will of its own," he continued. The Shadow image disappeared. "An empty vessel whose heart has been stolen away…A spirit that goes on even as its body fades from existence—for you see, Nobodies do not truly exist at all. Nobodies may seem to have feelings, but this is a ruse—they only pretend to have hearts. You must not be deceived!"  
"Nobodies…They don't exist…" Sora and I said quietly. Two more images of the Nobodies appeared by Sora and me.  
"Now then…the being you see before you is known as a Dusk," Yen Sid told us. "They are the most common form of Nobody. But there are others—some larger, some with frightening and unique powers. Be vigilant! On your journey, you will meet an alarming number of Dusks. They will all attempt to do you harm." The images vanished. "Still, they are nothing but empty shells, destined to return to the darkness. But—" He waved his hand again, and images of figures in black cloaks appeared. We watched them warily.  
"The beings you see before you now are different," he told us. "These powerful Nobodies have formed a group called Organization XIII. They command the lesser Nobodies."  
"Organization XIII…" Sora and I murmured. We looked to Donald and Goofy, but they shook their heads.  
"While Heartless act on instinct, Nobodies function in a higher manner," Yen Sid continued. "They can think and plan. And it seems they are working towards a goal. What that goal is, we do not know. The King sensed the danger, and journeyed forth to fight it. He found the dark realm's Keyblade, and with it, closed the door. Now he's traveling from world to world, fighting the Heartless as he seeks the answer to the riddle of the Nobodies and Organization XIII." The images of the cloaked figures disappeared, and we turned to look at each other.  
"Then I guess we better go find the King first!" Sora declared.  
"But where could he be?" Donald wondered.  
"Well, we won't know 'til we look," Goofy pointed out.  
"Yeah. And the King must know where Riku and Kurai are, 'cause the three of them were together in the dark realm when we closed the door," I said. "You know, after defeating Ansem."  
"So, before you go, you will need more suitable traveling clothes," Yen Sid pointed out to Sora. "Those look a bit too small for you." He motioned to the door nearby at one end of the room. "Through there you'll find three good fairies. If you ask, they'll create for you appropriate garments."  
"Gawrsh, Sora, you sure are growing fast," Goofy chuckled. Donald snickered, and I even allowed a snigger to escape me.  
"Uh, I guess…" Sora said, and he laughed, embarrassed, as he tugged gently on his small clothes. We went through to the room where the fairies Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather were chatting near the window.  
"Us, you guys, Riku, Kurai, and the King," Sora and I said. "We don't care who this Organization is, or what they're planning. With the seven of us—I mean, nine of us—there's nothing to worry about, right?"  
"Yeah!" Donald agreed. The fairies turned to us then.  
'Well, look whose here, dears! Sora, Donald, Goofy and Shadow!" Flora said.  
"Ooh, if you're looking for clothes, you've come to the right place!" Merryweather told us.  
"I'll do the designing," Fauna added. Flora and Merryweather pulled Sora away, and I jumped onto the nearby table to watch. Fauna sent out a spell that turned Sora's clothes green.  
"Oh, that will never do!" Merryweather said, looking irritated, and she used a spell that turned Sora's clothes blue.  
"Now, now, dears," Flora said. She flicked her wand and turned Sora's clothes pink, and I almost hissed with my hate of the color pink.  
"But don't you like this better?" Fauna asked, and turned his clothes green again.  
"Hold on!" Flora said, and they turned pink again.  
"Are you certain?" Fauna asked, and turned them green, again. Poor Sora looked helpless.  
"Blue!" Merryweather argued, and turned them blue. This went on for a bit, until Sora looked fed up.  
"Aww, would you just decide?" Sora begged. They gasped, and then started giggling a bit.  
"All right, then," Flora said. "Together now, dears. And no more squabbling!" They all three used their spells at once, and there was a bright light that glowed from him. Sora's clothes were now black and red, with some gold bands here and there.  
"Oh, my!" Flora said in surprise.  
"Ooh, it's lovely," Fauna added.  
"Oh, yes! He does look very dashing," Merryweather chimed in. Sora looked happy, and he summoned his Keyblade. I jumped back onto his shoulder.  
"Now, those aren't ordinary garments," Flora told us.  
"They have very special powers," Fauna added. Flora used her wand and a glowing red orb appeared and floated towards us. "Take the orb, dears." We reached for the orb and took it in.  
"And watch what happens," Merryweather said. We were struck with immense power, and we clenched ourselves as a bright light burst from our bodies. We relaxed, and Sora's clothes were red, while my armor was covered in a red flame pattern and my eyes were a flaming, ruby red. Donald and Goofy looked at us in awe. Sora looked down and saw he was holding a second Keyblade in his left hand.  
"Whoa!" we gasped.  
"Wow!" Donald said in awe.  
"Two Keyblades!" Goofy said, amazed.  
"This journey's going to be twice as difficult as your last," Merryweather told us, and we sighed heavily.  
"Your garments also have other powers—but you will have to discover what they are as you continue on your journey," Flora added. Sora and I looked at ourselves with our new power, and looked back to them.  
"Okay, we'll do our best," we assured them. "And thanks a lot!"  
"Oh, and there's something else for you—from Master Yen Sid," Fauna chimed in.  
"Oh boy!" Donald cheered excitedly. We walked back to the room where Master Yen Sid was, and saw the Gummi Ship rise into view. "Hey! It's the Gummi Ship!"  
"So you guys ready to go?" Sora asked. We all nodded, and turned to Yen Sid, and stood straight in front of him.  
"Now, now, just a moment," he said, and we relaxed a bit. "Because of your previous endeavors, the worlds have returned to their original states. That means the pathways between them have disappeared."  
"How do we get around?" Donald asked.  
"Do not fear," he assured us. "If what the King suspected proves true, the worlds have prepared new pathways along which you may travel. These pathways may be utilized by unlocking special gates. How these gates are opened, I'm afraid I do not know…However, the Keyblade and light shall act as your guides. When a beam of light radiates from the Keyblade, return to the Gummi Ship. Though the worlds may seem far apart and out of reach, they nonetheless remain connected by invisible ties. As do our hearts."  
"Our hearts are connected," Sora and I murmured.  
"That is correct," Yen Sid replied.  
"Got it!" we said.  
"But be warned," he cautioned us. "As you proceed…The Heartless and Nobodies will be using their own paths: Corridors of darkness, to travel from world to world. They may be attempting to link these dark pathways to the gates between the worlds."  
"Hey! That's not fair!" Donald said angrily.  
"Now then, that is all the information I can give you," Yen Sid said, ignoring Donald's outburst. "Go forth, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow. Everyone is waiting."  
"Okay! Let's get going!" I said, and we turned to Master Yen Sid and stood straight.  
"Master Yen Sid!" Donald said.  
"We sure do appreciate the help," Goofy added, and we saluted him, and left for the Gummi Ship, to start our newest journey. We began to set course for the next world, and as we did, I thought about Riku and Kurai, and how they may be doing now. Something in my heart suddenly responded to the thought, and it was angry. I couldn't imagine why, so I dismissed it. I sighed with content as I lay on Sora's lap, ready to find our friends and go home.

A/N: And now, on to work on Chapter 6! You'll soon recognize a pattern here, so the chapter lengths will vary, just a heads up! R&R, peeps!


	6. Off To Hollow Bastion!

A/N: Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 6

Here's To Our Return! Off To Hollow Bastion!

We arrived at the first world on the map, as it was the only we could get to at the moment. We ran in and saw the castle in the middle of being rebuilt.  
"It's Hollow Bastion!" Sora said.  
"Gawrsh, it looks kinda different now," Goofy pointed out.  
"I hope Leon and the gang are doing okay," Donald said hopefully. Goofy suddenly spotted some Soldier Heartless on a building nearby.  
"Uh-oh, looks like we're gonna have to do some fightin'," Goofy remarked. We walked through the Marketplace, and saw an elderly duck was holding some ice cream near a freezer.  
"Uncle Scrooge?!" Donald gasped.  
"Er, who?" Sora and I said, confused. Scrooge turned around and saw us.  
"Why, if it isn't Donald! And Goofy!" Scrooge said. "Hello, lads! Aye, you all look hale and hearty!"  
"So do you, Uncle Scrooge," Donald replied.  
"Ah, if only I were…." Scrooge muttered. "I cannot seem to recreate my favorite old-time ice cream. I'd make millions if I just got it right…" He looked at the ice cream bar in his hand, licked it, and looked at it in disgust. "Terrible…!"  
We waved in farewell, and left for the Borough. Odd pillars light were appearing and disappearing, as though scanning for something.  
"Hey, what's going on?" Donald said curiously. A very familiar voice sounded from a building above us.  
"That's the town's defense mechanism," the voice said. We looked to the building, and saw Yuffie!  
"Yuffie!" Sora and I cried happily. She waved slightly, but saw something behind us.  
"Look out!" she yelled, and Sora summoned his Keyblade, while I leapt off his shoulder. A Dusk had tried to attack us, and we swiftly dodged. We all four went into the fight, and quickly disposed of them. The defense mechanism also helped.  
"Hey, you guys!" Yuffie said, and jumped down off the building. "I see you're still in top form."  
"What'd you expect?" Sora said, and he thumped his chest with his fist. "Looks like you're doing okay."  
"Well, what did YOU expect?" she replied.  
"How are the others?" Donald asked.  
"Great!"  
"Hey, Yuffie! Have you seen the King, Riku, and Kurai?" I asked eagerly.  
"Nope," she answered, starting to walk to Merlin's house. "But I had a feeling I'd see you guys again."  
Sora started to imitate Leon, saying, "'We may never meet again, but we'll never forget each other.'"  
"Is that supposed to be Leon?" Yuffie teased. Donald, Goofy, and I laughed. "Everybody's working on stuff over at Merlin's house. C'mon!" We followed her to Merlin's, where we were reunited with some of our old friends. Cid was typing at a computer while Aerith and Leon watched.  
"Meet the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee!" Yuffie said enthusiastically, and our friends turned to see us.  
"We missed you!" Aerith said.  
"Well, if you ain't in top shape," Cid commented.  
"I knew it," Leon said to himself.  
"Knew what?" I asked, tilting my head to the side curiously.  
"A while back, everyone suddenly remembered you guys, all at the same time," he explained.  
"You…remembered? Wait! Does that mean you forgot about us?!" Sora gasped.  
"Thanks!" Donald snapped in an annoyed tone.  
"So where've you guys been all this time?" Yuffie asked.  
"We were sleepin'," Goofy told them.  
"Where? In cold storage?" Cid assumed. We looked at him nervously.  
"It doesn't matter," Aerith said in her soft voice. "This is great. Everyone's together again!"  
"So, um…we're trying to find Riku, Kurai, and the King," Sora told them. "Have you seen 'em?" They shook their heads, and I sighed. "Right."  
"Sorry," Aerith said apologetically. "But let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Okay?"  
"Okay. Thanks," I said. Cid suddenly got in my face.  
"Don't go thankin' us just yet," he said, and I growled at him in warning to give me some space.  
"Hollow Bastion's got a problem," Leon told us. "A big problem."  
"You mean, like Nobodies? And Heartless?" Sora and I guessed.  
"That's right!" Yuffie confirmed.  
"Sounds like you could use our help," I guessed.  
"Then let's cut to the chase," Leon said. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow. We were hoping the four of you might give us a hand around here." Sora thumped his chest with his fist proudly.  
"Like we're gonna say no?" Sora laughed.  
"…I forgot who I'm dealing with," Leon murmured.  
"Hey…what do you mean by that?" Donald demanded.  
"Just think of it as a sort of 'Leon compliment'," Aerith explained. Leon began to open the door.  
"Follow me to the Bailey—there's something you need to see," he told us, and left. Right as he left, Merlin appeared.  
"Oh! I thought it was you," Merlin said. "Right on time!"  
"It's Merlin!" Donald said excitedly.  
"Sora, Shadow, and the gang said they're gonna help out!" Yuffie told him.  
"Splendid! We'll count on you!" Merlin replied.  
"Right!" we all four said.  
"Ah, yes. Did you give them the cards, dear?" Merlin asked Aerith.  
"Oh!" she gasped, and pulled out four cards from her dress. "Here…they're presents for you. Leon thought you might like to have them." Sora and I took our cards and he turned his over so he could read it.  
"Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member!" Sora read.  
"Membership cards!" Donald said, excited.  
"Kinda cool, huh?" Goofy asked us, and Sora, Donald, and I nodded.  
"Hey, thanks Leahhh…huh?" Sora started to say, but looked around in confusion. We remembered that Leon was gone. "Oh no! We're supposed to be at the Bailey!"  
"Just a moment, Sora and Shadow," Merlin said, stopping us. "What about your magic?"  
"Huh? Oh, that's right…" we realized. Sora folded his arms.  
"Maybe you forgot it while you were asleep!" Yuffie reminded us.  
"Now, what am I to do with you?" Merlin wondered. "I suppose I'll have to lend you a few spells. But be careful with them!"  
"Thanks, Merlin!" Sora and I said as we got the Blizzard spell.  
"To the bailey, and fast!" Donald urged. We joined Leon at the Bailey, and saw him looking over the edge at the dark castle in the distance.  
"Look at that," Leon told us, and Sora and I gasped as we saw the dark pools of Heartless at the castle. "We want to restore Hollow Bastion to what it used to be. Who knows—maybe something even better. There's still a lot to do, and I'm sure we can handle everything—except…for that…" He pointed to the castle, where we had already seen the hundreds of Heartless. "…and that," he added, pointing to two Dusks making their way to the castle.  
"We'll handle 'em!" Sora and I said determinedly.  
"Well that's good to hear," Leon said, relaxing slightly. "So Sora and Shadow—do you know what's going on, then?"  
"There's this guy, Pete, who's been going around plotting with the Heartless," Sora began. "But he's not smart enough to tie his own shoes."  
"The ones we need to worry about are the Nobodies," I finished.  
"And those Organization XIII guys in charge, too!" Goofy added. Suddenly, a voice rang out from outside.  
"You called?" the voice said. We looked around, but no one was there. We ran out to the open area.  
"You're doing well," another voice said. Sora summoned his Keyblade, and I jumped off his shoulder, ready to fight as I bristled angrily.  
"Who's that?!" we yelled.  
"This calls for a celebration…" the first voice said. Dusks appeared and headed straight for the gate. The gates closed, and Leon readied his Gunblade. We chased after them, and Sora and I helped Leon fend off the Dusks and beat them before the gate could be destroyed. Once we beat them, Sora and I ran back out into the open area.  
"The Keyblade and light…truly marvelous weapons. Were they only in more…capable hands…" the first voice said. I heard a group of six people laugh from the comment.  
"Show yourselves!" I snarled. A group of six people in black coats appeared, the middle one raising his arms as they all appeared.  
"Organization XIII!" Goofy gasped.  
"Good! Now we can settle this!" Sora said. I snarled viciously, trembling with rage.  
"What a shame…And here I thought we could be friends," the middle one said. They all disappeared, laughing as they vanished into darkness.  
"Stop!" Donald yelled. He ran to the stairs, but a single cloaked man appeared before him. "What's the big idea?!"  
"Oopsy-daisy!" he said sarcastically.  
"Move!" I yelled at him.  
"Now, do you think that's polite, shutting me down like that?" he asked.  
"We said get outta the way!" Sora and I snapped at him.  
"As if! You can talk all you want, but that won't change a thing," he retorted.  
"Then we're gonna MAKE you move!" Donald shrieked.  
"See, that would work—if I were any old dude," the guy told us. "'Cept I'm not. I'm with the Organization. Nothing 'any old' about me."  
"Ha! Tough talk for someone who stood on the sidelines while his Nobody flunkeys did the fighting!" Sora growled.  
"Oh, dear. I think you got the wrong impression," he said, wagging his finger at us.  
"You gonna cry?" I taunted.  
"As if! Why don't I remind you how tough the crowd you're dealing with really is?" he told us.  
"Remind us?" we said, feeling doubtful for a moment. We snapped out of it, and the man laughed.  
"That's RIGHT, they used to give me those same exact looks," he said, remembering something.  
"I guess that you think you can psyche us out by saying really random stuff!" Sora yelled at him.  
"Gee…I just don't know," he said, holding his arms out wide as though inviting us to strike him. He lowered his arms after a moment. "Be good boys now!"  
"Wait!" Donald yelled, and tried to jump after him, but the guy disappeared as Donald jumped and missed. "Nuts! He got away!"  
"That was weird," Sora and I said to ourselves. "WHO gave him the same looks?"  
"Y'know, I think he was just tryin' to confuse ya," Goofy said.  
"Yeah, you're right!" Sora said. "Only one me!"  
"And me!" I added, jumping back onto his shoulder. Sora pulled out our membership card and read it. "The Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee Honorary Member—"  
The card began to glow. Sora and I gasped, and he let go of it as it floated into the air. Sora's Keyblade flashed into his hand, and my claws began to glow.  
"Huh?" we said.  
"What's this?" Leon asked.  
"Gawrsh, ya think…?" Goofy asked, and we realized what he meant. Sora and I got ready to unlock the world of Hollow Bastion. The Keyblade and my claws glowed brightly, and wind blew through Sora's clothes and hair, and through my black diamond armor. A crown symbol appeared beneath us, and the membership card revealed a keyhole. Sora and I unlocked it, opening a gateway.  
"Ohh...now we get it," we said. "That must've been the gate Yen Sid talked about."  
"Oh boy!" Donald said joyously.  
"Sorry to run, Leon, but other worlds are calling," Sora told him. Leon nodded.  
"Organization XIII…They look tough," he said quietly. "Be careful out there."  
"See ya soon," I said, and Leon waved farewell to us as we left. We left Hollow Bastion, but we knew we would be back; it was much too soon to be done there. Besides, we had promised Leon and the others that we would help them with their Heartless problem.

A/N: And there's Hollow Bastion's first part, completed! Now, on to the next chapter! R&R, peeps!


	7. To The Land Of Dragons!

A/N: Last update for the night, damn…Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 7

To The Land Of Dragons! But Not Like Me…

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I had just left from Hollow Bastion, and were landing in a new world, one that we'd never been to before. We made our way into a bamboo grove when we saw a large shadow of something on a rock near someone. I sniffed the air to try and recognize the scent as Sora and Donald began to speak quietly.  
"A Heartless?" Donald whispered.  
"Let's get the jump on 'im!" Sora said quietly, and Goofy and I stood back as they ran over to attack.  
"Gawrsh, maybe we better look before we leap!" Goofy called after them, but they continued on. I sighed; I recognized the scent, and it was our old friend Mushu the dragon. Sora gasped as they ran in, and stopped as Mushu jumped from behind the rock into the person's arms. He definitely isn't a large dragon, but then again, neither am I.  
"Is that Mushu?" Goofy wondered as he came over. Mushu popped out over the person's shoulder.  
"That's right, I know you heard of me!" he snapped, feisty as ever. "I'm little, lethal, and legendary! Now y'all scram before I get my dragon dander up!"  
"Hey, Mushu! We missed you!" Sora said cheerfully.  
"Yeah, well you better HOPE I miss YOU, or else you're—you're…Sora! Donald! Goofy! Shadow!" he cried out.  
"Do you know them?" the person asked. I could tell at a glance that she was a woman, and from her scent. Mushu hopped off of her shoulder and walked right up to me and Sora. I'll admit it; I admired Mushu; he was willing to make fun of his size, while I flip my lid at the mere mention of my stature.  
"Know them? Man, we used to kick all kinds of bad guy butt together!" the small red dragon told her. "Yeah, you know, I helped these guys out of a lot of tight spots. 'Cause I'm a mighty dragon! Right?" He leaned against Sora's leg as I looked at my fellow dragon. I rolled my eyes. Sora moved his leg, and Mushu fell over.  
"Something like that," I chuckled.  
"And…you are?" Sora asked the woman.  
"I'm Mulan. Um, no, I-I mean…" she started to say. She quickly lowered her voice as she spoke.  
"Ping!" Mushu interrupted.  
"Mulan Ping?" Donald said suspiciously.  
"Just…Ping," she said. "I am Ping, son of Fa Zhou."  
"You know Mushu?" I asked, playing along.  
"Mushu's one of my family guardians," "Ping" explained.  
"We didn't know we were borrowin' somebody as important as a family guardian," Goofy said. Mushu popped up.  
"Yeah, that's right!" he said, and scurried back up onto "Ping's" shoulder.  
"And that puts you four up to your eyeballs in debt to Ping here," Mushu continued. "Ping" smiled awkwardly.  
"Well, guess what, kiddies? It's payback time!" he declared.  
"Mushu…" Ping whispered to him.  
"Ah, they don't mind," he said for us. "Ain't that right?"  
"Hmm, sounds fair," Sora agreed.  
"See, Ping here was just on his way to join the Imperial Army," Mushu explained, and switched shoulders. I'd never known a dragon that restless before. Well, except maybe a friend of mine from my first home world. "We gotta go find the other recruits over at the training camp."  
"Would you join us?" Ping asked. "It'll be easier to fit in if I'm with guys, like you."  
"What do you mean, 'fit in'?" Sora asked, totally clueless.  
"Well, um, uh, don't—don't worry about that," Mushu said nervously, trying to deter us.  
"You're pretendin' to be a boy, aren't ya?" Goofy said, right on cue.  
"Ding-ding-ding!" I said, and laughed while rolling on the ground at Sora's face as he and Donald jumped in surprise.  
"You're a…girl?!" Sora gasped.  
"You didn't notice?" she asked sheepishly.  
"Uh-uh," Donald said, still stunned.  
"Not me," Sora said.  
"I think it's working," she whispered to Mushu.  
"I don't know—those two would fall for anything," Mushu said as we walked out of the bamboo grove.  
"I'm right here!" Sora protested as he followed. I jumped on his shoulder as he walked, still snickering.  
"Hey!" Donald said indignantly. We walked into the encampment, and Mushu whispered something to Mulan, and she started walking very…strangely. Sora and I joined a line of soldiers, but a man we would come to know as Yao shoved us out of line. I jumped off his shoulder as he was knocked back, landing like a cat.  
"'Bout time we got some grub," Yao said as he stepped in line.  
"Hey, no cutting!" Sora snapped at him.  
"Get out!" Donald yelled. Suddenly, Yao punched Sora right in the face. Donald grumbled something, and pounced on Yao.  
"Back off!" Yao snapped at Donald, and the two exchanged punches.  
"Uh-oh!" Goofy said as he watched the fighting ensue. Two more soldiers joined at that moment. We would learn the skinny one was Ling, and the large one Chien-Po.  
"Hey, a space in line!" Ling said. Ling pushed Yao and Donald away from the line. Chien-Po accidentally shoved the three of them further from the line.  
"I wonder what they're serving for lunch today," Chien-Po said to himself. Yao knocked Donald off of him.  
"Knuckle sandwiches!" Yao growled, and punched Ling.  
"That does it!" Sora yelled, and I slapped my forehead and groaned as he joined the fight. Donald knocked Ling down and started jumping on his back, while Sora tried to grab Yao, but Yao knocked Sora's hands away. Chien-Po, Goofy, Mulan, and I just watched, not really sure what to do.  
"Please!" Mulan said, and they stopped fighting.  
"Please?" Ling said mockingly.  
"What a girl!" Yao taunted.  
"Uh…knock it off!" Mulan said, lowering her voice.  
"Knock what off?" Yao said, playing dumb.  
"You punched me!" Sora accused him.  
"Cutting in line!" Donald added.  
"What a shrimp!" Ling said, and I snarled furiously. Mushu popped out from Mulan's armor.  
"Who you callin' a shrimp, panda lips? I'm a bona fide guardian dragon!" Mushu shrieked at Ling. Mulan shoved Mushu back inside.  
"L-let's just get back in line, okay?" she suggested.  
"Whose side are you on? I just got slugged!" Sora demanded of her.  
"Want some more?" Yao asked in a hostile tone. A voice suddenly barked out an order.  
"Soldiers! Back in line!" the voice ordered.  
"The captain!" Ling gasped, and we all formed a line, except I perched on Sora's shoulder. The captain walked past, and Sora glared at Yao and made a fist at him. Suddenly, Shadow Heartless appeared, and Sora summoned his Keyblade. I jumped off from his shoulder and let flames flow from my jaws.  
"What are they?" Mulan asked.  
"Heartless!" Sora told her.  
"Oh yeah?" Ling said, and him, Yao, and Chien-Po readied their fists, but took off and hid somewhere.  
"Ping, I hope you're ready!" Sora told her, and we fought the Heartless, taking them down without much effort. Once finished, the captain addressed us.  
"You four. What are your names?" he asked. We told him our names. "You're welcome in my troop. Your battle skills are encouraging."  
"I am the son of Fa Zhou—" Mulan started to say, but Shang cut her off.  
"You should go home," he told her.  
"B-but…that would dishonor my family!" she argued.  
"You'd rather dishonor my troops?" Shang asked.  
"Don't make me-!" Mushu said from inside Mulan's armor, but she shifted, silencing the little dragon.  
"If Ping trains hard and does his best, he'll get stronger in no time," Sora said, standing up for her. Shang pondered it.  
"Hmm…"  
"Just give us an assignment! We'll show you how well we can work together," I said.  
"So…you want to be tested?" Shang asked. "Our orders are to ambush Shan-Yu's army on their way here. They should be coming through the mountain pass."  
"We'll smash them!" Donald said determinedly.  
"I doubt that," Shang scoffed. "You five will be the advance party. Scout the mountain for my troops."  
"That's it?" I said, rolling my pure black eyes. "No problem. Right?"  
"R-right," Mulan stammered.  
"I'll brief you on the details later," Shang told us. "Return when you're ready to depart. Remember, the smallest mission may have the greatest purpose. Stay alert!"  
"Sir!" we all said together, and saluted him. We spoke to Shang when ready to depart, and we finished all of our missions with aplomb. Once we had finished all of our missions, Shang spoke to us.  
"Yes, that's exactly what I need from you," he praised. "Now, you still have some tasks to do. Stay sharp. You did well."  
"I knew it!" Sora said, folding his hands behind his head. I shook my head with a small smile.  
"Captain…" Mulan said warily.  
"I suppose you've made a little progress," he told her.  
"Not a little—a lot!" Donald protested.  
"No. You're right, Captain," she agreed. "Please give me one more assignment. This time I'll show you what I'm truly made of!"  
"I'll give you one more chance," Shang told her. "See me when you're ready to depart. Remember, this may be a test, but it's still an important mission. Be alert!"  
"Sir!" we all said in unison. We readied ourselves for the fight ahead of us up the mountain path, and spoke with Shang.  
"Your mission is to secure the path over the summit so our company can pass," he told us. "I've authorized you to be let through to the summit. Don't let me down!"  
We left for the pass. As we walked into the mountain pass, a hawk flew overhead, and cried out. We were suddenly surrounded by Heartless, and we took them out, but we still had to fight our way to the village. We had to fight hard, seeing as some new Heartless were cropping up as we made our way through. Sora and I used our Valor Form, and smashed the enemies like no other. Once they were all gone and we had sliced through the rock falls, we arrived at the entrance to the village. The other soldiers came up to Mulan and started to praise her.  
"Hey, you ain't half bad," Yao said.  
"A man among men!" Ling agreed.  
"Thanks!" she thanked them, and they left. She looked down, looking disappointed. "But the Captain…"  
"Captain!" I said, alerting my friends. He came over to us with two foot soldiers following.  
"Ping sure did great!" Goofy told him.  
"You bet he did!" Donald agreed.  
"Hmm…Fine. I'll let you join my troops…" Shang told Mulan. "But I'm still not convinced you have what it takes to be a worthy soldier."  
"Why not?!" Sora demanded, and I groaned at his act of not thinking before he spoke. He's always been rather impulsive that way.  
"It's all right, Sora," Mulan told my friend. "I'll find a way to show him what I'm made of. Just give me a chance."  
"That's the spirit, Ping," Shang praised, and he left with the two foot soldiers to the village.  
We joined everyone at the village towards the summit, and I shivered slightly. I wasn't too fond of the cold, unlike another kind of dragon from my first home world. We all were gathered around Mushu, and he was giving us some very interesting news.  
"Okay, girl! Here's your chance!" Mushu began. "I just saw this real shady guy. And I know it's Shan-Yu."  
"Shan-Yu?!" Mulan gasped.  
"That's the Hun leader!" Sora exclaimed. "We've got to tell the captain!"  
"Right!" Mulan agreed, but Mushu was quick to stop them. I jumped down to join Mushu with this one.  
"Waaaait wait-wait-wait WAIT! Everybody use their heads a sec," Mushu told us, but I didn't need to think about it; I already knew where this was going. We were going to go and take down Shan-Yu ourselves, and Mulan would be a hero. "Now, why are we here? To make the Captain see Mulan's—I mean, Ping's talents and bring honor to her family."  
Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded, and I sighed with relief. If they hadn't understood, I would've had to clobber them over their heads or something.  
"So, let's go and find out where Shan-Yu is, by ourselves," Mushu suggested. "Then, if we're lucky, we can fry him up good! Though just tracking the guy down should earn us our stars…Captain Musclehead will have to notice my girl!"  
"Okay. Let's go," Mulan said in agreement.  
"We'll help out," I said.  
"Now we're cookin'!" Mushu said, looking pumped. "Shan-Yu is in a cave outside the village!" We left for the cave outside the village, just as Mushu had told us. All that was in the cave, though, was just a small shrine. I sniffed quietly, trying not to alert my friends. I stayed motionless on Sora's shoulder, trying to keep on my guard.  
"Dead end," Sora remarked.  
"There's nobody here…" Donald agreed.  
"You're crazy. Check again!" Mushu insisted. I could smell something, but I wasn't quite sure what.  
"Oh well…" Donald said, and started to leave.  
"Wait for me, Donald!" Goofy called after him, and he left, too.  
"Hey, wait up!" Sora said. Suddenly, the cave began to shake, and I knew what I was smelling. It was the Heartless!  
"Huh?" Mulan said.  
"What? What is it?" Mushu demanded. A barrier formed at the entrance, blocking Donald and Goofy from helping us.  
"Sora! Shadow!" Donald yelped.  
"Ping!" Goofy cried out worriedly. As I thought, several Heartless appeared in the cave, leaving us trapped with them, and to have to fight. We quickly fought all of the Heartless, and the barrier vanished.  
"Nice fighting, Ping!" I said with approval. "You were amazing." Donald and Goofy joined us, and they looked us each over.  
"You okay?" Goofy asked.  
"Yeah, thanks to Ping," Sora told him.  
"C'mon! Time to report to the Captain!" Mushu said hurriedly.  
"But Shan-Yu wasn't here," Mulan pointed out.  
"Please! That Hun is old news!" Mushu said. "We're gonna tell the Captain how thousands of Heartless stormed the cave, and Ping took out almost every one of 'em!" We ran out to the village, but it had been reduced to ashes, burned down by the enemy. We found Shang among the rubble, clutching his side from the injury he was suffering from.  
"Captain!" Mulan cried out. He was trying to stand, leaning against a blackened wall for support.  
"Don't overdo it, Captain!" Sora told him.  
"It's just a scratch," he tried to assure us, but he collapsed slightly.  
"Captain, the enemy! Where did they go?" Mulan demanded of Shang.  
"They went toward the summit…" he groaned.  
"We'll stop them!" Mulan said.  
"It kinda is our fault," Goofy pointed out.  
"Right," Mulan agreed.  
"You mean MY fault," Mushu said.  
"Uh-uh!" Donald protested.  
"Shan-Yu and the Heartless did this, not us!" Sora and I said. "Captain, if you track down the villagers, we'll handle this." We all five looked toward the summit. "Let's go."  
We ran through the ridge of the mountain to the summit, where that same hawk from the mountain pass flew past and landed on Shan-Yu's shoulder. He was standing at the top of the summit, where hundreds of Heartless waited for us at the edge of the cliff. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Mulan, and I all readied ourselves for a fight. Shan-Yu's hawk flew off of his shoulder as he cleaved the air with his sword.  
"Attack!" he commanded the Heartless, and they charged down the summit toward us. Sora and I got separated from the others, but we still fought off as many Heartless as we could until the other soldiers got there with a fire cannon.  
"Stand back!" Yao ordered us.  
"We'll handle this!" Ling added. Yao placed the fire cannon in the snow and aimed it at Shan-Yu. Mulan saw that wasn't going to do the job, so she butted Yao out of the way.  
"Sorry!" she told the soldier, and ran further up the mountain with the fire cannon. She aimed it at the peak above. "Oh, a flint, flint, I need so—huh…" She looked at Mushu, who was standing right there.  
"Me, hey, whoa! Whoa! Wait a second! Ah!" he choked out as he tried to run, but Mulan grabbed and stretched him, making him use his fire breath to light the cannon. Mushu landed on the head of the cannon as it exploded, sending him shooting on it towards the mountaintop. "You're going the wrong way!" Mushu screamed as he flew. The cannon hit the mountain, causing a huge avalanche.  
"Yes!" Mulan said, looking successful.  
"Captain?" Sora said, and I looked. Shang had just walked in with two foot soldiers. Mulan looked at Shang, the avalanche, then back to Shang again. She quickly ran to the Captain.  
"Look out!" she yelled in warning. The snow plummeted down the mountainside, racing straight for us and everyone else. The Heartless and Shan-Yu got swallowed up in it, but we were next. Mulan grabbed Shang and pulled him around the rock corner, and the snow rushed past them.  
"Run for it!" Yao yelled, and Sora and my eyes widened with horror as the speeding snow raced for us. We all hid underneath a rock formation for shelter, and took cover there. Once the snow had stopped flowing, we came out of hiding. Shang and Mulan were catching their breath.  
"Thanks, Ping," Shang told her.  
"It…was nothing," she replied.  
"I never should have doubted you," Shang said. "From now on, you have my trust."  
"Thank you, Captain," Mulan said gratefully. Mushu popped out of the snow then and started complaining.  
"First she uses me as a lighter, then she turns me into a cannon ball," Mushu grumbled. "The head ancestor's gonna hear about this. You know, that's it! I give up! I can't take this no more. C'mon, Mulan. Let's quit this charade and go home, girl."  
"Mushu!" Mulan hissed at him.  
"Huh?" Mushu said, and looked to see Shang standing right there in front of him. And he'd heard everything Mushu had said. Mushu clapped his hands over his mouth.  
"Mulan? A woman? It can't be!" Shang said, stunned. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I ran over and joined them.  
"Oh boy, you're okay!" Goofy said thankfully.  
"You all knew, didn't you? You knew Ping was really a woman in disguise," Shang accused us. He was right, though. We were all at a loss for words with no way to explain ourselves.  
"I can't believe you lied to me," Shang growled angrily. "The punishment for high treason and dishonoring the Army…is death. Get out of my sight…now. You're all dismissed."  
"But Captain…" Sora tried to argue.  
"My debt is repaid," Shang said. He started to leave for the ridge. "The Emperor is waiting! Move out!" The troops left the summit without us. Mushu jumped onto Mulan's shoulder as she sighed heavily.  
"Mulan…I blew it," Mushu murmured. Soon after Mulan had changed out of her armor, she looked at us.  
"Thank you, everyone. I'm sorry I got you in trouble," she said apologetically.  
"It's no big deal," I said, shrugging.  
"So Ping…I mean, uh, Mulan…what're you gonna do now?" Sora asked her.  
"Go back home," she replied.  
"You know, your daddy's gonna be steamed as a chicken dumpling," Mushu told her, and she sighed again. Sora grabbed Donald and Goofy into his arms and I jumped on his shoulder.  
"Relax, we'll take our share of the blame," Sora told her, and Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement.  
"Thanks. You're all wonderful friends," she told us. We walked down to the ridge, where I saw the hawk flying overhead to the summit. I heard snow shifting, so I ran over to the edge of the ridge, where Sora and Mulan joined me, their expressions curious. We watched in horror as Shan-Yu burst out of the snow, roaring with rage. Heartless appeared behind him, and the hawk landed on his shoulder as he climbed out of the snow.  
"Shan-Yu!" Mulan gasped.  
"He's alive!" Sora yelped.  
"He's heading for the Imperial City!" Mulan told us urgently. "We've got to warn Shang!" We heeded her words, racing down the mountain in order to get to Shang and the other soldiers before it was too late. We had to fight some Heartless along the way, but they were total pushovers. We reached the city right as the others had made it in.  
"Shang!" Mulan yelled to him, and he stopped. "Shan-Yu is alive! He's headed this way!"  
"And why should I believe you this time?" Shang asked suspiciously.  
"But…she's telling you the truth!" Sora insisted. Donald and I noticed the hawk flying around the towers, and Shang looked about, spotting Shan-Yu standing on one. He grinned evilly at us all, and jumped down off of the tower to get inside of the palace.  
"Guard the palace!" Shang ordered his men. "Do not let the enemy get anywhere near the Emperor!" Yao, Ling, and Chien-Po charged over to the palace, but the other soldiers remained where they were. "That's an order!" Suddenly, the remaining soldiers turned into Heartless. Shang looked stunned, but Sora, Mulan, and I ran over to him, taking immediate action.  
"Captain!" Sora said. "We'll secure the courtyard, and you can save the Emperor!" Shang remained where he was, seemingly unable to move.  
"That's an order!" Donald added, and Shang left to help the Emperor. We quickly eliminated the Heartless, thanks to Mulan's newly usable Limit. Mushu would launch fireballs, and I would use a flaming tail strike to stir up the Heartless, making them easier to hit. Sora and Mulan would then dart around and use fire-based moves to attack. Finally, we would all four use a huge fire move, and that would smash the Heartless. Once finished, Mulan turned to us.  
"The Emperor's in danger!" she said urgently. Sora and I nodded.  
"No time to lose!" Sora agreed. We ran across the Imperial Square to the palace, where Shan-Yu had his sword held to the Emperor's throat.  
"Now you'll bow to me!" Shan-Yu growled menacingly. He looked to us, but Mulan looked worried. Out of nowhere, though, Shang jumped in the middle and knocked Shan-Yu down, and quickly led the Emperor inside. Ling and Chien-Po closed the gates behind them, and we all five ran in place to protect it as Shan-Yu got to his feet.  
"It ends now!" Mulan told him.  
"Right now!" Sora and I added. The hawk landed on Shan-Yu's shoulder as he glowed with dark energy and laughed evilly. We fought Shan-Yu, and protected the gates as well. We had to dart here and there, and slash when we passed by him. That stupid hawk kept grabbing Sora and pulling him into the air, though, so I took the hawk down with a quick burst of fire. We continued fighting Shan-Yu until he collapsed, grasping his side and dropping his sword. Mushu jumped about happily.  
"Now that's what I call burning some hunny-bun! Aw, yeah! Mulan's the best! Mulan's the best!" Mushu said. "No wait a minute—I'm the best! Mushu's the best! Mushu's the best!" Soon we stood in the presence of the Emperor, and Shang walked out with him. The old man had a stern look on his face, and I could see where this was going, and fast. There were also hundreds of people in the Imperial Square, watching.  
"I've heard a great deal about you, Fa Mulan," the Emperor said. Mulan bowed to him. "You stole your father's armor, ran away from home, impersonated an Imperial soldier. You deceived your commanding officer, shamed the entire Chinese army, and dishonored your family name."  
"We get the picture…" Sora muttered impatiently. I shushed him by flicking the back of his head with my tail.  
"You're a young woman. And in the end…" he continued, and Donald looked hopeless. "…you have saved us all." The Emperor bowed to Mulan, and she was speechless. The entire crowd behind us cheered for her. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I each congratulated her.  
"Your Excellency!" Mulan finally said.  
"Captain Li?" he said. Shang took Shan-Yu's sword and handed it to Mulan. "Take this, so the world will know what it is you have done for China."  
"Thank you," she said gratefully, and she bowed again.  
"Mulan," Shang said, and he called all of our names, and we each responded accordingly. "Thank you." He bowed slightly to us.  
"'Thank you'? Is that all there is to say, Captain?" the Emperor asked. "If you wish to win the heart of Fa Mulan, China's bravest woman, you'll have to be a bit more eloquent than that!" Shang stared at him in shock, and the Emperor and Mulan laughed. I chuckled with them.  
"Can I get an autograph?" Sora said teasingly to Mulan.  
"Thanks for everything, Sora and Shadow," she told us.  
"Now they GOTTA let me go back to bein' a guardian! They GOTTA!" Mushu said to himself.  
"But Mushu, I thought you already WERE a family guardian!" Goofy pointed out.  
"What? Oh, no, no—don't even worry about that, that's just real technical. Just for us guardians," Mushu said, trying to weasel his way out of trouble, but I could see right through him.  
"You tricked us!" Sora snapped at him.  
"No, no no no, see I did—I just, uh…" Mushu said, turning to run. "You know, I just didn't wanna bog y'all down with all a guardian's deeds. See, they're very complex, a lot of fine print. You wouldn't understand," Mushu continued. Suddenly, Shan-Yu's sword glowed, and Sora and I stopped chasing Mushu.  
"Huh?" Sora said. He pulled out the Keyblade, and together, he and I opened the next gate.  
"Okay!" Donald said.  
"Guess it's about time to be movin' on," Goofy told our new friends.  
"You shall be missed," the Emperor told us.  
"Is it okay if we come back to visit?" Sora and I asked.  
"Of course!" Mulan answered.  
"We will look forward to your return," Shang added.  
"You two play nice," Sora teased, and Shang stared at him, shocked.  
"Whoa…Watch it, soldier!" Shang said when he recovered as Mulan giggled, and Mushu sat on her shoulder, laughing as well.  
"Goodbye, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Shadow!" Mulan called after us as we left. We departed for the next world, and there we would reunite with an old friend of ours, one who had changed a lot since we had last seen him.


	8. To Beast's Castle!

A/N:

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 8

To Beast's Castle! But What's Wrong With Beast?

We arrived in the new world, which was an enchanted castle in the middle of a dark, spooky forest.  
"Hey, what is this place?" Sora wondered as we walked inside through the giant doors.  
"It's huge!" Donald said in amazement.  
"And sorta gloomy, don't ya think?" Goofy asked.  
"I wonder who lives here," I wondered aloud. Out of nowhere, though, a huge familiar roar sounded from deep inside the castle.  
"Hey, does anyone else recognize that?" Goofy asked. The roar sounded again, and I recognized it instantly.  
"Hey! That's the Beast!" Sora said in realization.  
"Yeah," Donald nodded.  
"Maybe we should check up on him," Goofy suggested.  
"Look!" I yelled, and we saw a Shadow Heartless sneaking across the floor, heading straight for a parlor.  
"C'mon!" Donald yelled, and we quickly followed him into the parlor. When we got to the room, Donald peeked around the doorframe. "Where did it go?" he wondered. Donald noticed something on a table next to the fireplace, and he walked over to it. I saw that it was a mysterious glowing rose in a glass case. I watched Donald as he went over to it. Suddenly the Shadow Heartless appeared, snapping Donald out of his trance. "Found it!" he told us. We sprung into action, fighting the Heartless, and Sora and I used our Valor Form, using our superior strength to fight them off. Unfortunately, they kept on coming without a break.  
"Aw, c'mon!" I complained. "Enough already!"  
"Somebody help us!" Donald shouted. The doors suddenly slammed open, and Beast stepped in, a scowl on his face. We looked at him, hopeful expressions on our faces. Beast roared as he got rid of the Heartless when they attacked. Once they were gone, he started to approach us.  
"Just in time!" Sora said, but Beast smacked Sora and me aside. Donald and Goofy wailed in shock, but Beast knocked them aside, too. He picked up the glass case with the rose in it, and walked out of the room. We watched him as he left, Donald rubbing his head.  
"Gee, do ya think he maybe forgot who we are?" Goofy wondered.  
"With this many Heartless around, something must be up," Sora said.  
"Why'd he have to do that?" Donald grumbled. We left the room, but Donald stopped once out in the main hall.  
"What is it?" Sora asked.  
"I just know I saw a lady at the top of the stairs…" Donald said. We looked up at the staircase, where to sets of stairs split from the main staircase. One led east, the other led west.  
"Well…if the Beast is here in the castle, that lady musta been Belle, right?" Goofy guessed.  
"Yeah, maybe so," I agreed. "Belle might know what's happened to the Beast, too."  
"C'mon! Let's go find her!" Goofy said enthusiastically. We ran to the east wing of the castle, and Sora put his finger to his lips, quieting the rest of us.  
"Shhh!" Goofy clasped his hands over his mouth, as if to prevent himself from making a sound. We snuck closer to the door.  
"What am I going to do?" Belle's voice said inside the room. Sora pointed to the door, and Donald and Goofy nodded. Donald began to back up, as though prepping himself to bash the door in.  
"Okay," Donald said to himself. He got ready to run.  
"Donald!" I yelped, and Donald bashed through the doors, falling flat on his face on the floor.  
"Hey! Who opened the door?" Donald demanded.  
"Oh, I'm so happy you're here!" Belle said, and she grabbed Donald and started hugging him tightly. "Donald! Sora! Goofy! Shadow!"  
"Hiya!" Sora and I said in greeting. Sora, Goofy, and I waved.  
"Put me down! Put me down!" Donald was yelling, and Belle realized that she was still hugging Donald, so she set him down on the floor, where he looked really dizzy.  
"Where's the Beast?" Donald asked her.  
"Oh, he must be in the west wing," she told us. "We don't talk like we used to."  
"Did something happen?" I asked, tilting my head to the side, confused.  
"Yes," she replied. "Isn't that why you're here?" Donald and Goofy looked at Sora and me, but we shrugged.  
"Not exactly," Goofy said. "But we can still help!" Donald nodded in fervent agreement.  
"Since we're here and all," Sora added.  
"The Beast won't talk to you?" Donald questioned.  
"He's been acting strange lately," Belle explained. "The only ones who might know why are locked in the dungeon. I want to help them, but…"  
"Wait a second," Sora interrupted. "Who locked who up?"  
"The Beast locked up his servants," Belle clarified.  
"But why?" Donald asked.  
"That's what I don't know," she replied.  
"Hmm. Where's this dungeon?" I asked.  
"You can get to the undercroft from the west hall," Belle told us. "The dungeon is down there."  
"West hall. Got it," Sora repeated.  
"Be careful!" Belle warned us, and Sora and I each gave her a thumbs up. We left for the west hall, passing rows of suits of armor.  
"There should be a way into the undercroft around here…" I murmured. Sora spotted a wardrobe down the hallway, and it looked like it was blocking something. We started to shove it out of the way, and I got a peek at a door behind it. "Here it is!" I exclaimed.  
"Do you MIND?!" the wardrobe yelled at us. It…talked. What the heck?! Anyway, the wardrobe moved back into place, blocking the door again. Sora and I carefully started to push the wardrobe out of the way again, being careful not to wake her. Once she was completely out of the way, she woke up again. "And I was just starting to get comfortable…May I help you?"  
"Huh? What? Oh, right—Belle needs us to go to the dungeon," Sora told her.  
"Goodness! You're here to help my friends?" she said, surprised. "Why didn't you say so?"  
"Er…" I mumbled, feeling awkward.  
"I'm sorry I startled you," she apologized. "Oh, I used to be human, you know, until the enchantress cast her spell. I was turned into a wardrobe when the prince was turned into a beast."  
"The prince is the Beast?!" Donald gasped.  
"The Beast is a prince?!" Goofy yelped.  
"That's right," she told us. "Although his behavior was far from princely at the time."  
"What's this about a…spell?" I asked curiously, leaning in slightly.  
"Well, it was a cold winter's night…" she began. We nodded, eager to hear the story, but she stopped. "And that's enough for now. You can hear the rest when you rescue the others. It'll give you something to look forward to."  
"Aww…" Donald grumbled.  
"Hurry, now," she said urgently. "The dungeon is damp and chilly. Certainly no place for a clock!"  
"A clock?" Goofy said, confused.  
"You'll find out soon enough," the wardrobe told us.  
"All right. Let's get going," Sora said. We left for the undercroft, and found a door with two stone creatures on it. "This must be it." Donald walked over to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening for anything. Suddenly, the stone creatures' eyes glowed, and they began to come to life. Donald quickly backed away.  
"Uh-oh!" he yelped. He ran away from the door as one of the creatures slammed its fist down where Donald had been standing. The two creatures slammed their fists together, and we started the fight. We ended up having to destroy the Possessor in order to pass through the doorway. Once the door's creatures had been defeated, we were granted access to go through.  
"You think the dungeon's past this door?" Donald asked.  
"C'mon, we gotta set those servants free!" Goofy insisted, and Sora and I nodded in agreement.  
"He's right. Let's go," I said. We went through the door to find a room with a few household objects inside. There wasn't anyone in there.  
"There's nobody here," Sora remarked.  
"You mean there's nobody to rescue?" Donald said in disbelief. Sora sighed.  
"Did someone say 'rescue'?" a voice said.  
"Shhh! Keep quiet. It might be THEM," another voice hissed.  
"Oh, they look like nice boys to me," a third voice commented.  
"We are nice," Goofy said to the room. "We're your friends."  
"Yeah. Belle sent us to find you," I said. The objects in the room suddenly came to life, as a clock, candlestick, teapot, and teacup hopped off the chairs and came over to us. Sora, Donald, and Goofy bent down to their level, but I didn't have to because I was already that…short. I just climbed off from the brunette's shoulder.  
"I'm Sora, and this is Shadow. Donald. Goofy," Sora said, motioning to each of us as he said our names. Donald suddenly reached and grabbed Cogsworth, scaring the rest of the servants.  
"…D-don't touch! I-I am self-winding, sir!" Cogsworth tried to protest. Donald looked him over, and then began to…shake poor Cogsworth. Sora and I looked to the candlestick, named Lumiere.  
"We're glad you're okay," Sora told him.  
"It is we who are overjoyed to see you!" Lumiere said, waving his arm. Donald tickled Cogsworth's foot, and then pulled his arm.  
"Did somebody put a spell on you guys, too?" Goofy asked them.  
"Yes, that's right! You've heard! It was the enchantress," Cogsworth said.  
"It seems so long ago…" Lumiere murmured. Sora, who was holding Chip, the teacup, set him down.  
"It was a cold winter's night…" Mrs. Potts began. "An old beggar woman came to the castle, and asked for shelter."  
"But the master of this castle, that is of course, the Prince…" Cogsworth tried to say as Donald opened his window and began playing with the pendulum. "Stop that! Put me down this instant!" Cogsworth slammed his little window shut, and Donald placed him on a box. "Thank you!" He dusted himself off and cleared his throat. "The master turned her away. All because of her, ahem, meager appearance."  
"That's awful!" Goofy gasped.  
"Oui. He was a spoiled prince, so selfish and…how shall I say…cruel," Lumiere explained.  
"Lumiere!" Cogsworth chastised.  
"The old woman warned our master not to be deceived by appearances…" Mrs. Potts sighed. "Still, he would not take her in."  
"Then the old woman's ugliness melted away to reveal a beautiful enchantress," Cogsworth continued.  
"She turned the Prince into a beast, a shape she thought fitting for his cold heart," Mrs. Potts murmured.  
"And to further punish him, everyone in the castle was enchanted, too," Cogsworth finished.  
"Wow…that's quite a story," I said in amazement, sitting back on my haunches.  
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Goofy asked them.  
"Let's get the enchantress!" Donald declared.  
"Oh no, dear," Mrs. Potts said, stopping Donald.  
"We already know what needs to be done, but with the master out of sorts…" Lumiere faded out, not finishing his sentence, seeing as we could guess what he would say.  
"He sure is acting weird," Sora agreed.  
"It's almost as if he's forgotten how to trust others," Mrs. Potts remarked.  
"You don't suppose he's been turned into a Heartless, do you?" Cogsworth asked.  
"Heartless?!" the four of us gasped.  
"If they're a part of this, then it's a good thing we're here," Sora concluded.  
"Let's go find the Beast!" Donald cried out.  
"Splendid!" Cogsworth agreed. Lumiere hopped off a stool and started toward the door.  
"Follow me, messieurs. I know a shortcut," he told us. Once out in the undercroft, we went up to a pair of suits of armor, where the doorway out to the shortcut was.  
"Allow our guests to pass!" Cogsworth told them, and they moved aside. The others went through once the doors opened. "After you." We entered the next room.  
"I'm afraid we won't be marching out that easily," Lumiere told us once we were all there. "You see, the door to the other side is concealed by a sort of contraption."  
"What kind of contraption?" I questioned.  
"Observe," Cogsworth said, and he jumped onto a crank. It lowered a lantern with a dark flame burning in it.  
"The lantern came down!" Donald said, stating the obvious. I rolled my pitch black eyes.  
"Indeed it did," Lumiere replied. "If we could but light all the lanterns in this passage the secret door would open…"  
"But, as you can see, the lanterns are already burning—with an enchanted flame," Mrs. Potts told us.  
"You must put out the enchanted flame before I am able to light the lanterns properly," Lumiere explained.  
"Can't ya just throw some water on 'em?" Goofy asked, and I shook my head. How could he think that? That's too easy, and if there's one thing I've learned in life, it's that things are never easy in life.  
"I'm afraid that's not enough," Mrs. Potts replied. "But if you use the power of light…"  
"Hmm…How about Shadow and I try using light and the Keyblade?" Sora suggested. Sora pointed his Keyblade at the lantern, and I made a pulse of light emanate from my body. The enchanted dark flame died down, and Lumiere lit the lantern properly.  
"Bravo!" Lumiere cheered.  
"Only three lanterns left! If we work together, we'll have that door open in no time!" Mrs. Potts said excitedly.  
"Piece of cake!" Sora said simply.  
"Again, it is not quite so simple, mon ami," Lumiere said, stopping our excitement. "Certainly you cannot expect Cogsworth to hang from that handle forever?"  
"What? Why? Lumiere! You—" Cogsworth gasped, but Lumiere interrupted him.  
"If he gets tired and falls off, all the unlit lanterns will rise to the ceiling again," Lumiere explained.  
"Before you can continue, you must see to Cogsworth," Mrs. Potts instructed us. "Once he gets his strength back, he'll grasp the lever again for you."  
"Let's give it a shot!" I crowed. We repeated the process of lighting the enchanted lanterns properly a few more times, and then we were finished. "Are we all set?"  
"Oui. The door should open now," Lumiere told me.  
"But I don't see any secret door," Goofy pointed out.  
"No need to worry," Cogsworth told us. "Just push that block over there—the one that's sticking out."  
"Got it," Sora said, and he pushed the block into the wall. It then revealed a set of stairs leading out of the room.  
"Now, I must check on the castle," Lumiere told us. "I fear my absence has been too long."  
"I'd best be off, too, dears," Mrs. Potts added.  
"Watch out for the Heartless!" Sora and I warned them as they left, leaving Cogsworth with us.  
"The master's room is at the very end of the west wing," Cogsworth told us. "I shall go on ahead and wait for you." Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I made our way to the end of the west wing, where we saw Beast speaking with a man in a hooded black coat. The enchanted rose was there as well, and Beast was hanging on to every word the man said. We watched and listened as he spoke in an almost hypnotic tone to Beast.  
"It's time you dealt with Belle," he told him. "She's scheming to take everything you have. This castle, your precious rose. And then—your life. Trust no one. Feed your anger! Only anger will keep you strong."  
"I've had enough of strength," Beast replied. "There's only one thing I want—"  
"What? To love and be loved in return? Who could ever love a beast?" he told Beast. Beast turned and roared angrily at the hooded man. The man noticed us, however, and it seemed he had an idea to fuel Beast's rage. We were ready to fight the man, however, and not Beast. "See? She has accomplices." He then formed a barrier around the part of the room with the rose in it, and vanished through a dark portal.  
"Hey, Prince!" Sora said in greeting, and I shrunk into Sora's pocket, quivering from what I knew the reaction would be. Beast roared furiously, and my friends froze in their tracks.  
"Oh dear! Master!" Cogsworth gasped. Beast roared and slashed at Sora and Donald, and potentially at me, since I was in Sora's pocket, and they quickly dodged by jumping out of the way. Beast roared furiously again, and I scrabbled out of Sora's pocket, determined to help. I snarled back at him, sounding like a panther when it came out. We were forced to fight Beast, and eventually we all calmed him back down with some help from Cogsworth.  
"Cogsworth…what happened?" he asked the small clock.  
"Well, Master…ah, you see…that is…How shall I say…ah, actually…mmm…" he stammered, not sure how to say it respectively.  
"Well, you put everybody down there in that dungeon!" Donald told him.  
"I did what?" Beast asked, looking stunned.  
"Ah…you did!" Cogsworth confirmed. Beast looked at the floor, and said nothing.  
"Who was that guy you were talking to?" I asked. "The one in black?" Beast suddenly looked up.  
"Xaldin…that's his name," Beast told us. "He came from the darkness…He…used my anger to control me. He took all my sorrow, my sadness, my pain—and turned it all into rage. There was nothing I could do…I could no longer see the truth."  
"Well, I'll be," Goofy said in realization. "That must be why you threw all of your friends down there into the dungeon. You wanted to make sure you didn't hurt 'em, right?"  
"Was that it? To protect them?" Beast wondered, looking doubtful.  
"Sure," Goofy replied. "We know you're good inside."  
"He's right, Master," Cogsworth agreed. "We've all seen how kind you can be. After all…Belle can see the goodness in your heart, but I'm afraid you've yet to—"  
"Belle!" Beast gasped suddenly, and then sighed. "I've mistreated her…I've mistreated her and been so selfish."  
"She didn't say anything about that," Sora admitted.  
"She'd never tell anyone of my cruelty…She's too good," Beast said to himself.  
"You see, I'm afraid he judges himself far too harshly," Cogsworth muttered to Sora and me, making me smirk slightly.  
"Why don't you just go talk to her?" I suggested.  
"But…" Beast said weakly.  
"No excuses!" Sora argued. "C'mon, we'll go with you." We made our way back to the east wing, where Belle's room was. There, we met up with the wardrobe again, who was already in the room.  
"Master!" she gasped when we approached.  
"Everybody's safe now," Donald told her.  
"Where is Belle?" Beast asked.  
"Why, she left in a hurry," the wardrobe replied. "Something about going after this…man in black."  
"WHAT?!" Beast snarled. "Why doesn't she do as she's told?"  
"Temper, temper!" the wardrobe chastised. "Her spirit is what makes Belle so special."  
"We'd better go find her!" I said urgently, and we ran out to the entrance hall.  
"I'm warning you!" Belle's voice rang out. "You'll be sorry!"  
"Belle! Where are you?" Beast shouted to her.  
"Beast! Help! I'm in the ballroom!" she cried out. We ran into the ballroom, and made our way across the floor.  
"Belle!" he yelled to her.  
"I'm all right!" she told him, and as she said it, she was closing the doors to the balcony, right as a large, spiked, dark-colored ball in chains lowered itself, trying to get to her. It turned around, changing targets, and darted up to the chandelier, and made it crash into the ballroom floor. Once it made contact, waves of darkness emanated through the floor, poisoning it. Donald jumped into Goofy's arms, trying to get away from it. Even so, the Heartless came out from the chandelier, and we started the fight. We quickly defeated it, even though it possessed objects in the ballroom. For example, it would go into the chandelier, and make flames shoot out from it, and go into one of the pillars in the room, making them strike us if we got too close. After we beat it, it started to go into spasms, then formed dark webs around itself. After a few moments, it turned into a hideous creature, this time with limbs. It would turn invisible, and then storm around the ballroom, taking swipes at us. Sora, Beast, and I used the Howling Moon Limit, and we defeated it after the finishing powerful roar. Once beaten, the ballroom returned to its normal, light self, the darkness fading away.  
"We did it!" Sora cheered.  
"So you think," Xaldin's voice sneered. We looked over at the Entrance Hall, and saw Xaldin, still hooded.  
"Xaldin!" Beast snarled, and he, Sora, and I rushed over to Xaldin.  
"Farewell." He disappeared in a dark wave.  
"What does he want here?" Beast wondered aloud.  
"He must be with Organization XIII," I concluded. "Ever heard of the Nobodies? When a strong-hearted person turns into a Heartless, a Nobody's created, too. See, the Organization…they've got control of all the Nobodies."  
"That's right," Goofy confirmed. "And they were gonna make you into a Heartless. That way, they could get that Nobody of yours and have control over it." Sora pointed at Goofy and nodded.  
"You're alright!" Belle said happily, and she ran back over to us from the balcony.  
"Belle!" Beast said, looking worried. Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts, and Chip walked in at that moment. "Belle…I-I'm sorry—I…wasn't myself. I hope I haven't done anything to hurt you." Belle smiled, and Beast smiled back. "Forgive me."  
"I know you weren't yourself," Belle told him. "You don't have to apologize. But I had hoped…that you might have changed a little bit." She wagged a finger at him, and he got a sheepish look on his face. "I wish you could start trusting me." She crossed her arms, and Beast looked down, seeming upset.  
"Oh, I am afraid time is running short," Lumiere said out of nowhere.  
"What do you mean?" I asked him.  
"Remember the rose?" he asked.  
"From the Beast's room?" Donald remembered.  
"Precisely," Cogsworth confirmed. "You see, if the master can learn to love, and earn love in return, before the last petal falls…"  
"…the spell will be broken," Lumiere finished.  
"Really? You think he's gonna make it?" Sora asked.  
"We think so," Mrs. Potts assured us, looking positive.  
"Yep, I think you're right," Goofy agreed.  
"I HOPE you're right…" Sora muttered. His Keyblade appeared then, and my claws began to glow when the rose in Beast's room did. Sora and I used our light and the Keyblade to unlock the next gateway.  
"What happened?" Beast asked.  
"The gate is open!" Donald declared.  
"Do you have to go?" Belle asked, looking a bit sad.  
"Yeah," I told them.  
"Now, no more arguin', okay?" Goofy told them. Beast looked at Belle, and then looked away.  
"We'll see to it," Lumiere assured us.  
"Take care, dears," Mrs. Potts said.  
"You're welcome here anytime," Cogsworth added.  
"If you hear anything about Riku, Kurai, or the King, the Heartless, the Organization—anything at all—let us know!" Sora and I told them, and they nodded. "Okay, gotta go!" We all waved in farewell and left for the Gummi Ship.


	9. To The Coliseum!

A/N: And on to chapter 9! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 9

To The Coliseum! And The Underworld, Too…

We arrived in a dark place, when we thought we had landed in Olympus Coliseum. I looked to Sora, and then looked around, confused.  
"Huh?" Sora said, saying what I was thinking.  
"Are ya sure this is the coliseum?" Goofy asked, looking uncertain.  
"It's that way!" Donald yelled, and he pointed to a set of stairs leading to a bright doorway.  
"Oh…Guess we were a little off," I said, shrugging. Suddenly, a woman's scream sounded nearby, and we looked to the source. A woman was being chased by Rabid Dog Heartless, and she fell, the Heartless swarming over her.  
"Heartless!" Sora gasped. We quickly ran over, scaring the Heartless away, and Sora offered to help her up.  
"Thanks, but…I'm fine," she told him, and got to her feet. "And you're supposed to be?"  
"I'm Sora, this is Shadow, he's Donald, and that's Goofy," Sora told her. "We came to see how Hercules is doing." She looked at us each in turn.  
"You know Wonderboy?" she asked.  
"Yeah, 'cause we're heroes, too!" Donald told her.  
"Ya mean, junior heroes, Donald," Goofy corrected.  
"Looks like we have a friend in common," she said, laughing slightly. "Name's Megara. My friends call me Meg."  
"So how's Herc?" I asked her.  
"Wonderboy? Well, he's duking it out at the Coliseum every day," she told us. "You know, 'a hero's work is never done' and all that. He's ready to drop, but he keeps on fighting. Even Wonderboy has his limits, though. These opponents are bad news—special deliveries from Hades himself…"  
"Hades?!" Donald gasped.  
"Right," Meg confirmed. "Lord of the Underworld. I was on my way to see him. Maybe I can get Hades to give Wonderboy a breather. If anything happens to that kid…"  
"Gawrsh…Sounds like you're more than just friends!" Goofy guessed.  
"Oh…uh, I mean…" Meg stammered.  
"We'll go have a little talk with Hades," I offered. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you on your way to see him."  
"You really want to do that?" Meg questioned, surprised. "Well, it sounds like you know what you're doing. I guess I'll take you up on that offer. But…let's keep this whole chat-with-Hades thing our little secret, okay?"  
"Our lips are sealed!" Sora promised her. We left, and we entered the Cave of the Dead. Suddenly, we saw a man cloaked in black run through.  
"The Organization!" Donald alerted us.  
"Yeah," I said. We proceeded into the Inner Chamber, just to find the member of the Organization still running. He ran right at us, and we all readied ourselves for a fight.  
"Run! Run away!" he cried out as he ran…right…past us? We watched him as he disappeared through a dark corridor, and we stood there, totally confused.  
"Okay…?" Sora said.  
"My thoughts exactly," I agreed, shrugging. We walked through, continuing to the Valley of the Dead. Donald shivered, and I crawled into one of Sora's pockets.  
"I'm scared, too, Donald," Goofy whimpered. I began to whimper as well, only it sounded more like a dog than anything else.  
"Hades, come out!" Sora called out to the valley. We made our way through the Valley of the Dead, and started to climb the stairs. We heard yelling, and ran in to see a man in red clothes fighting Hades, who had turned red with fury. The man was only using one arm, though, and I saw that as a slight disadvantage, at least until I saw how much power was in that one arm.  
"Hades!" Donald yelled, and Hades got distracted, making his flames turn blue again.  
"You again?" he said in shock. The man knocked Hades back, and looked at us.  
"Fight!" he ordered us. He struck at Hades, but the blow was stopped with just one of Hades' hands. The man was thrown back, and Hades punched him, making him hit the ground. Hades then conjured two fireballs, ready to aim at the man. Sora and I dove in between them, and they dissipated.  
"Get up!" Sora yelled to him. We started to fight Hades, but couldn't hit him at all. We soon started to edge away.  
"Something's wrong!" Donald, yet again, pointed out the obvious.  
"I feel kinda funny…" Sora said, and I whimpered, quickly crawling back into Sora's pocket. I felt cold, so I was trying to find warmth. Being in Sora's pocket didn't help, though.  
"That's right!" Hades said. "See, that's the thing. In the Underworld, heroes are zeroes—comes with the territory." The two fireballs appeared in his hands again, and I screeched in terror; I had never been so defenseless, and I hated it. The man quickly sliced down with his sword, and Hades teleported in a puff of smoke.  
"Go now!" the man ordered us.  
"But we've gotta talk to Hades!" Sora protested.  
"What was that?" Hades said with his fingers in his ears, and I growled. Sora tried to charge past, but the man stopped him, and I sighed with relief. Hades made two fireballs form in his hands again as Donald and Goofy fled.  
"We can't fight him here!" the man told us. "We have to go—now!" He tried to pull Sora, but Sora wasn't budging. Finally, the man DITCHED us, and Sora FINALLY fled as Hades threw the fireballs at us. We fled the chamber and ran down the stairs, and quickly Sora and Goofy closed the door to Hades' chamber behind us. They were trying to catch their breath, and fast.  
"Is he gone?" Donald wondered.  
"Don't count on it," the man warned us.  
"Huh?" Sora said, and Hades _appeared right next to us_.  
"Leaving so soon?" Hades asked casually. We were forced into fighting our way to the exit, and once we got there, we ran in as fast as we could. Once inside the Inner Chamber of the Cave of the Dead, we sat there, trying to catch our breath.  
"You're really good," Sora told the man. "Are you some kind of hero?"  
"No, I'm no hero…I'm just an…" he started, shaking his head while he spoke.  
"Huh?" I said, tilting my head to the side a bit.  
"Auron," he finished. Sora and Goofy looked at each other, and I slapped my forehead and groaned. "My name."  
"I'm Sora," Sora said.  
"Donald," Donald added, jumping on Sora's shoulders.  
"Goofy!" Goofy chimed in, and jumped on Sora's shoulders, too. Sora couldn't hold them both up, so they all fell in a pile. I crawled out from the pile.  
"I'm Shadow," I told him, shaking the dirt and dust off my black armor.  
"It seems we were fated to meet," Auron remarked. "Maybe you need a guardian." Sora shoved Donald and Goofy off of him, and stood up. I jumped onto his shoulder and perched there.  
"Guardian?" Sora repeated, sounding indignant. "Thanks, but no thanks." We started to walk to the passageway, and I heard Auron chuckle slightly to himself. We eventually made our way to the entrance to the Cave of the Dead. Donald reached the closed door first, and pushed himself against it.  
"What? It's closed!" Donald uttered in confusion. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I tried to push it open, but to no avail.  
"Come on, open!" Sora growled as we pushed on the door. Donald looked and pointed at a keyhole chained to the door, and Sora's Keyblade appeared. My claws glowed in response.  
"Will that open it?" Auron asked Sora.  
"Yeah, I think so," the brunette replied. We started to unlock the keyhole, but a sudden roar stopped us.  
"Hurry!" Auron growled urgently. He raised his sword over his shoulder, ready to fight. Suddenly, Cerberus leaped into the cave, and Sora and I quickly unlocked the door. The keyhole and chains vanished, and Donald and Goofy ran though after opening the door. Auron stopped Cerberus as he tried to follow, and Sora and I began to run to the door. We turned back, however, and saw Auron fighting alone.  
"Uh…" Donald said uncertainly. Sora and I rushed back to help him. "Sora, Shadow, wait!"  
Cerberus roared with rage as we started the fight. We took turns slashing at him, and I mainly aimed for the head in the middle. Sora helped me, and we got caught between the other two heads. We quickly leaped out of the way as the middle tried to bite us, and dodged the other two heads as they tried, too.  
"Dog paddle!" I yelled, and we smashed all three heads at once, knocking Cerberus down, stunned. He was beaten, so Auron, Sora, and I quickly took the opportunity and ran through the door. Sora, Donald, and Goofy made faces as Cerberus charged at the closing door, and I sighed at their silliness. Once we felt we were safe, we started talking.  
"Whew…" Sora sighed, still panting from trying to fight off the giant three-headed dog.  
"Huh?" Donald said, looking confused.  
"What happened to Auron?" Goofy wondered, looking around.  
"He can take care of himself," I assured my friends, shrugging off his mysterious disappearance. "Let's go find Meg. Then we can try this again." Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement. We made our way up to the coliseum gates, and once through, I sighed with relief and jumped out from Sora's pocket, soaking in the sunshine and warmth. I stretched and shook vigorously, trying to shake off the stiffness from resting in Sora's pocket.  
"Gawrsh, this sure does bring back memories!" Goofy commented, and we all reminisced about when we were last here. We then made our way to the Lobby doors, and an exhausted Hercules came out. He noticed us and smiled.  
"Sora! Donald! Goofy! Shadow! When'd you get here?" he asked, looking happier.  
"Hey, Herc!" Sora and I said in greeting.  
"Hi!" Donald added, waving.  
"Howdy there!" Goofy chimed in. He walked down the steps closer to us, and I noticed Meg appear in the doorway.  
"You on another adventure?" Hercules asked.  
"Yeah, trackin' down some friends, wipin' out some Heartless," I told him, shrugging one shoulder.  
"Junior heroes, always busy!" Hercules replied, and he and Sora locked hands.  
"You know it!" Sora said. We went inside to the Foyer, where Herc asked us some stuff.  
"So, did you find those friends of yours?" he asked, seeming genuinely interested.  
"Still working on it," Sora explained. "When we got here, we ran into Meg—meg-mega trouble, I mean!" he stammered, and caught himself in time so as not to bust poor Meg. "So we had to help somebody out. We tried to go teach Hades a thing or two…but the Underworld drains away all our strength. Don't suppose you have any ideas?" I shuddered about the Underworld; I didn't like the curse, the cold, or the darkness.  
"Well, there is a stone that guards against the Underworld's curse," Hercules told us. "The gods on Mount Olympus use it whenever they have to go down there."  
"Think we could use it?" Sora asked, looking hopeful.  
"Sure, why not!" Herc agreed happily. "I'll go get it for you."  
"Thanks!" Donald said.  
"Real nice of you!" Goofy added.  
"But Hades is no pushover, even if you've got the Olympus Stone," Herc warned us. "And I have a match today, so I can't go with you…Know what you need? Training! Why don't you go talk to Phil?"  
"Hey, good idea!" I nodded. We entered the Coliseum after Herc had left, and saw Phil there with his back to us, unable to see who was there.  
"Hey champ, how ya feeling?" he asked. "Better rest up for tomorrow's match. Nobody's gonna pay to see a worn-out hero…capiche? Remember what I told you. Victory in the games comes down to two simple words: Eat, bathe, sleep!" Goofy counted the words on his fingers as Phil said them, and when we realized that he'd said more than two words, we all four started laughing. Phil jumped around, saw it was us laughing, and ran over to us. "Hey, if it ain't the junior heroes!"  
"Lookin' good, Phil," Sora told him.  
"Never better!" Phil replied. "How you guys been? Have you earned your 'true hero' wings yet?" We thought it over for a second, and Phil said, "Nope, you ain't got what it takes." Sora, Donald, and Goofy looked surprised at this, and I just sighed and rolled my eyes with a slight smile. Sora scratched his head, seeming confused.  
"So, what's up?" Phil asked. We explained what we were going to do, without mentioning Meg. "Hahaha! You four are gonna take on Hades?"  
"What's so funny?!" Donald demanded.  
"You got nerve. I like that," Phil told us. "Hey, you never know—stranger things have happened, right? Better get cracking, boys! So you want to train, eh? All right, I'm gonna work you hard!" Sora and I did some training with Phil for a bit, and once finished, Herc came into the Coliseum.  
"Listen, I gotta take off for a bit," Phil told all of us.  
"Where to?" Sora tried asking.  
"None of your beeswax," Phil snapped. I just rolled my eyes; typical Phil behavior. Once he had left, Herc addressed us.  
"Sorry guys…The Olympus Stone has been stolen," Hercules told us.  
"What?!" Sora and Donald gasped.  
"By who?" Goofy asked.  
"We don't know who did it yet," Herc answered. "All we're sure of is that is was a guy in a black-hooded coat. And he had accomplices—a bunch of creatures in white." Donald and Goofy looked at each other and nodded. "Someone you know?"  
"I think so," I replied slowly. "Hey, if we can get the Olympus Stone back, can we borrow it for a while?"  
"Sure," Herc told us, nodding. "By the way, you haven't seen Meg around, have you?" We shook our heads. "Oh, okay…" he sighed.  
"What's wrong, your hero-ness?" Hades asked, suddenly next to Hercules. "Feeling under the weather?" He placed a hand on Herc's shoulder, and Herc ducked away. "You know, I thought staying in shape was part of the hero job description…you know what I'm saying?"  
"Oh, right…Hades, we gotta talk!" Sora said suddenly, but Hades flicked him to the ground, making me bristle angrily.  
"I came to share a bit of mildly-interesting news: It seems your dear, sweet little Nutmeg…" Hades said as Herc snuck behind him to punch. "…went and got herself lost in the Underworld." He teleported behind Herc.  
"You mean you kidnapped her!" Hercules accused, and with every right. I nodded angrily, snorting and causing a puff of smoke to shoot out of my nostrils.  
"Well, maybe…But why get caught up in the details?" Hades said, and he looked very cocky. Hercules whistled, and a brilliant winged horse, named Pegasus, flew over the Coliseum walls, landing next to Herc. "Uh-uh-uh! You can't leave now, okay?" Hades said, and Herc stopped from climbing on Pegasus. "You've got a very important match today against, um…the bloodthirsty Hydra! I mean, if you don't stick around, who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen."  
"Yeah, accidents you cause," Sora snapped at him, and I hissed angrily.  
"Like I said: details, who needs 'em?" Hades retorted.  
"You're just a coward," Herc said, and he and Pegasus glared at Hades angrily, Pegasus flapping his wings and shaking his head in agitation.  
"Ah well," Hades said. "Can't all be heroes." He vanished in a puff of smoke, and Herc crossed his arms.  
"Can you handle this?" Herc asked me and Sora.  
"You got it! We're heroes!" Donald said determinedly.  
"Junior heroes, Donald," Goofy corrected him. Donald shook his head and glared at Goofy.  
"You take care of the Hydra. We'll handle the rest," I assured him. Herc put his hands on Sora's shoulders, and I shifted slightly so he could without hitting me.  
"I'm counting on you," he told us. We nodded, and Pegasus trotted over. Herc petted him and said, "You gotta find Meg!" Pegasus nodded, and launched himself into the air, and left back over the Coliseum walls. Herc sighed heavily, worried about Meg. We returned to the Underworld Entrance and found Phil collapsed on the floor.  
"Phil!" Sora gasped, and we ran to him.  
"Ooh, ooh…" he groaned as he sat up and saw us.  
"What happened?" I demanded.  
"I spotted this strange guy all dressed in black," Phil explained. "I chased after him, but he turned on me. Next thing I know, I'm seeing stars."  
"All dressed in black?!" Donald yelped.  
"He's the one who stole the Olympus Stone," Sora said.  
"Where did he run off to?" Goofy asked.  
"To the Underworld," Phil answered. "He's a bad apple, all right. All I wanted was to find a backup hero. Just in case Herc needed to take a break."  
"Heroes, eh? You could've just asked!" Sora pointed out as I nodded.  
"You know someone?!" Phil exclaimed, and my friends whipped out their weapons while I unsheathed my claws. "Oh, good one…"  
We entered the Underworld Caverns as Herc battled the Hydra. We fought some Heartless, and as we entered The Lost Road, Sora started working out a kink in his shoulder. I whimpered and crawled into his pocket again, feeling the cold of the curse affect me.  
"Man…This Underworld curse is really getting to me," Sora remarked.  
"I can't take much more of this…" I murmured. I wasn't weak, so I didn't like this one little bit. "I'll save my strength in case we run into the Organization member again."  
"We've gotta get that Olympus Stone back fast!" Goofy declared. We continued through to the Atrium, where we finally encountered the man in black. I slowly crawled out from Sora's pocket and onto his shoulder. He turned around to face us.  
"Huh? Ah! You!" he said, and removed his hood. "Wait a sec…Roxas? Night?"  
"Excuse us?" Sora and I said, totally bewildered.  
"Roxas? Night? Oh, it's no use," the man in black said.  
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Sora said, and I shrugged when my friend glanced at me. The man pulled out a note and read it aloud to himself.  
"Let's see here…'If the subjects fail to respond, use aggression to liberate their true dispositions'…Right. Did they ever pick the wrong guy for this one…" he muttered to himself.  
"You're bizarre…" I murmured. He took out the Olympus Stone, and Goofy reacted first.  
"He's gotta be the thief!" he yelled, pointing at the man.  
"Now that's just plain rude!" the man said indignantly, and held the stone up, making light glow around him. He summoned his sitar, and began to play it, making figures made from water appear and fight us. Once beaten, the man, who we learned was named Demyx, grasped his shoulder in pain, and started to stagger back. "Roxas, Night, come back to us!" He vanished into darkness.  
"Guy's a broken record," Sora said, and I snickered.  
"Hey, look!" Donald said, and walked over and picked up the Olympus Stone from the floor. He brought it over and gave it to Sora, who held it up, making light glow around us. The light restored our strength, and I jumped high into the air, feeling much better now.  
"Let's go! Meg needs our help!" I growled determinedly. We entered a room called The Lock, and saw a rock with an outline of Meg and a keyhole imprinted on it. Sora and I unlocked the gate, and the rock vanished, and where a black pillar of light had been before, green light now stood.  
"Meg!" Donald said in anticipation.  
"Almost there," Sora said. We entered the pillar of light, and saw Hades standing with Meg, who was bound with chains.  
"Now that's what I call keys," Hades said with a laugh. "Gee, thanks for your help! Now have a nice day." Hades vanished in a puff of smoke, but Meg looked distracted. Suddenly, she looked behind us.  
"Sora, Shadow, behind you!" she warned us. We turned and saw Pete standing behind us with some Heartless, and he was laughing.  
"What's wrong?" he taunted. "Can't fight in the Underworld? Ohh, boo-hoo-hoo!"  
"Better think again!" I snarled, bristling furiously. Pete looked at his Heartless, and pointed at our group.  
"Charge!" he ordered. Several Hook Bat Heartless attacked us, and we continued to fight, Sora and I eventually using Valor Form, and smashing Heartless with pure strength alone. Once we had beaten that batch, though, more appeared. Sora and I swatted them away.  
"There's too many!" Sora realized.  
"Let's go!" Donald agreed. Sora and I quickly broke Meg's chains with a single swipe from the Keyblade and my claws, and we got ready to go. Out of nowhere, though, Hercules appeared, and he knocked Pete down.  
"Sorry I'm late," he apologized. He whistled, and Pegasus flew in, hitting Pete's head as he tried to stand, and knocking him down again. I sniggered at that one. Hercules picked up Meg and said, "Get Meg outta here. I'll meet you back at the Coliseum." He then placed her on the winged horse's back, and turned to us.  
"What about you?" Sora asked him.  
"I'm gonna show these guys what happens when they mess with a true hero," he told us, his expression determined. He patted Pegasus on the rear, and he took off into the air, the rest of us swift to follow. Pete started to get up as we passed, however, but Hercules was already in the way, ready to block him. Once we had all gotten out of the cave, Meg looked at us from Pegasus's back.  
"Sora, Shadow…I won't leave him," she told us stubbornly.  
"He'll be okay," I assured her.  
"Look, even Herc has his limits," she insisted. "He can't keep winning forever."  
"Then we'll go back him up," Sora told her. Donald turned to Pegasus.  
"Get Meg outta here!" he told the winged horse. Pegasus nodded, and launched himself into the air, and left for the entrance of the Underworld. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I returned to the cave. Pete had even more Heartless this time, and Herc looked exhausted. Sora and I looked to Herc once on his side, and the three of use nodded to one another. We fought Pete, and it was a total cakewalk. Once beaten, Pete turned to run.  
"This place gives me the creeps," he said to himself. "I'll deal with you nitwits next time!" He then turned tail and fled, leaving us in a cave that was about to collapse. We immediately ran to the pillar of light, and made our way back to the Underworld Entrance. Hades approached us once we got there.  
"Well, if it isn't everyone's favorite hero washout," he taunted. "You really blew it this time."  
"No one likes a sore loser, Hades," Sora retorted.  
"Can it, keyboy!" Hades snapped at him, and I bristled furiously.  
"Then let me," Herc said, taking a step forward. "No one likes a sore loser, Hades."  
"Yeah, yeah, Styx and stones," Hades replied. "Maybe you should check up on that Hydra you neglected to finish off. I hear things are really FALLING APART up there, champ." He vanished in smoke again.  
"Wait!" Sora tried to say, but it was too late.  
"Hate to run, but I've got another little diversion to attend to," Hades' voice said. We ran back to the Coliseum gates, and saw that the Hydra had destroyed the place. Herc fell to his knees.  
"This can't be…" he whispered in shock, and we soon saw why. A large rock almost hit me and Sora as we ran in, but we swiftly dodged. The Hydra's roar sounded out from the rubble and smoke, and Phil, Meg, and Pegasus ran to their friend, and Phil shook him.  
"Champ! You're safe!" Phil exclaimed in relief.  
"I failed…" Hercules whispered in horror. He looked around, and we all saw that the statues had been sliced in half, and the Coliseum had been reduced to rubble.  
"It's not your fault!" Meg assured him.  
"I left everyone unprotected," Hercules growled at himself, and slammed his fists on the ground. "Hades was right. I'm just a…a washout."  
"Aw, come on, champ!" Phil argued. "I didn't train you to think like that."  
"Wonderboy…" Meg murmured to him.  
"Phil's right," Sora agreed. "This is no time to beat yourself up."  
"I'm some hero…" Herc said, still being too harsh to himself. Meg quickly led Hercules away, and the Hydra climbed over the rubble to fight us.  
"Herc needs help!" Donald said urgently.  
"Yeah!" Sora and I agreed.  
"Don't suppose you have room for one more?" Phil asked, and he ran over, as well as Meg and Pegasus. Phil did a series of fighting poses, and Pegasus made his best fighting stance.  
"We're in!" Meg added. The Hydra roared again, and we swiftly leapt into action. Sora and I immediately attacked the one head the Hydra had, and once weak enough, we severed it. After that, though, three heads sprouted in place of the first one. I heard Phil yell, "Get up on the Hydra's back!" We heeded his advice, and climbed up onto its back, where Phil threw an urn, and Sora and I smashed it into the Hydra's back, stunning it. Once stunned, we ran over, quickly severing the heads. Once those ones were gone, even more heads sprouted, and I didn't even bother to count them this time. After we had attacked some of the heads that were within reach, they started to snap their fangs viciously at us, and Pegasus flew over to help us. Sora and I flew along on Pegasus; well, Sora did anyway, while I just flew with my own wings. We slashed and hacked at each one as we flew by each one, and eventually, we got it weakened enough to be able to sever all of the heads at the base, and defeated it. Once we had finished, we walked over to Hercules, whose confidence was completely shot.  
"I let you down. I'm just…no use," he mumbled.  
"It's not your fault," Meg assured him. "Hey, even a god would be exhausted."  
"She's right," I nodded. "Give yourself a chance to rest."  
"There won't be any games for a while, anyway," Goofy said optimistically.  
"Don't worry about Wonderboy here. I'll look after him," Meg told us. "Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow, I owe you big time."  
"Hey, it's no big deal," I replied, shrugging. "Just let us know if Hades or the Heartless start acting up. We'll take care of it."  
"Yeah, that's what heroes are for!" Donald said.  
"Since when did you four make hero?" Meg teased.  
"Let's save that for another time…" Sora replied. "We have to hit the road."  
"Okay. Don't be strangers," Meg told us.  
"Gawrsh, I hope ya feel better soon, Hercules," Goofy told Herc.  
"Yeah…" he sighed.  
"Phil?" Donald said, as though pressing an issue. I knew what he was trying to do, and I knew Phil wouldn't.  
"Oh, well, take care you guys!" Phil said, as oblivious as I thought. "Stay a little longer next time. We got some serious training to catch up on."  
"Well, time to go," Sora said, but then remembered something. "Oh, I almost forgot. The Olympus Stone." He pulled it out to give it to Hercules, and Herc stood up weakly. Before he could touch it, however, the stone glowed brightly, and Sora and I used the path given to unlock the next gateway. We left for the next world, and while traveling, I thought about the time in my life when I was younger, and had been severely injured, the bones in my wings and one of my back legs shattered from the damage I had taken, and completely drained of my energy. It had taken months to finally repair the damage, and I had recovered from it just fine. Hercules had a slightly similar state of mind compared to my own during that period, and I knew that with some support and a bit of a push, he would make it through. Just with some time.


	10. Here's Disney Castle!

A/N: Chapter 10! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Night, & Kurai.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 10

Here's Disney Castle! But Why Does Everything Become Black & White?

We piloted the Gummi Ship in the hangar of the next world, which was ironically, Disney Castle.  
"This is your castle…"Sora remarked as he and I looked around. "Must be nice to be home, huh? Well…" Donald and Goofy looked around.  
"Ya know, somethin' just don't feel quite right…" Goofy said, looking concerned.  
"Yeah," Donald agreed. Suddenly, Chip and Dale came racing over to us in the Gummi Ship Hangar, looking panicked and worried.  
"You're back!" Chip exclaimed.  
"Move it! Let's go!" Dale yelled at us.  
"Queen Minnie needs to see you!" Chip squeaked.  
"The castle's in danger! Hurry! To the library!" Dale told us urgently. We walked up the winding stairs to the courtyard, where we were forced into fighting many Heartless, but they were all weak. We eventually fought our way into the castle itself, and all the way into the library. There were so many that it was really weird. Once we got to the library, we spoke with Queen Minnie.  
"Your Majesty! Queen Minnie! We're back!" Donald said, and he and Goofy were saluting her.  
"You're here!" Minnie sighed in relief.  
"Your Royal Highness! Did ya happen to summon us?" Goofy asked.  
"Yes," she told us, looking upset. Sora was too relaxed, and I KNEW he would do something without thinking. And he did.  
"Where's the King?" he asked, very casual. I groaned and slapped my forehead while Donald pulled Sora's ear.  
"Excuse him. These are our friends, Sora and Shadow," Donald told her.  
"Oh, Sora and Shadow! The King told me all about you both in his letters," Minnie told us. "He said you're both very brave."  
"So, do you know where he is?" I asked curiously. She shook her head, and the four of us sighed.  
"Your Majesty, what are Heartless doing in your castle?" Donald asked, looking worried.  
"Oh my…So those are the Heartless," she said, looking equally as worried.  
"Don't worry; we'll take care of 'em!" Sora and I promised her.  
"I know I can count on you, Sora and Shadow," she told us. "Now, there's something I'd like all of you to come and see. Would you please escort me to the audience chamber?" We saluted her, and she gasped. "I forgot to warn everyone else in the castle about the danger! We must be sure they're hidden somewhere safe!"  
"Okay, we'll go tell them!" Sora declared.  
"The whole castle?!" Donald gasped.  
"We just gotta split up, Donald," Goofy told him.  
"Shadow and I will make sure that everyone knows what's going on," Sora said, and I nodded.  
"No, Sora, you and Shadow will just get lost!" Donald snapped.  
"Okay. Then we'll stay with the Queen," I suggested, and Minnie giggled slightly.  
"Good," Donald said, looking satisfied.  
"All righty then, see ya later!" Goofy told us, and he and Donald left. Sora and I turned back to the Queen.  
"Um, the audience chamber, right, ma'am?" Sora asked, uncertain.  
"Yes, Sora and Shadow," she confirmed. "Let's be on our way." We left back through the hall, and made our way through the Heartless to a set of large doors, which was magically sealed.  
"Just one moment," Minnie said, and she held up her hand to the door. "As soon as the trouble started, I made sure to seal this room." The magical barrier broke, and a small door appeared in the much larger one. "Now then, shall we?" Poor Sora had to crawl through while I just walked right through it. Once through, a hoard of Bolt Tower Heartless floated down from the ceiling. "Not here, too!" Minnie gasped.  
"We got 'em," I growled. Sora and I helped fight through with some aid from the Queen, and we eventually reached the throne. The Heartless were unrelenting, and Sora and I were starting to get tired. "Come on, give us a break!" I snapped.  
Minnie hurriedly reached under one of the arms of the throne and pressed a button, the throne began to move with a loud rumbling.  
"Huh?" Sora and I said in confusion. The throne receded with a burst of light, and when the light was gone, so were the Heartless. "Whoa…"  
"The room below is called the 'Hall of the Cornerstone,'" Minnie told us. "Our castle has always been safe from worlds that are evil…thanks to the Cornerstone of Light which we keep down here."  
"The Cornerstone…of Light?" Sora repeated, confused. I gazed after the queen curiously. Sora and I followed the Queen into the Hall of the Cornerstone, and Donald and Goofy joined us. There was an unbelievable mass of thorns surrounding the walls while a giant ball of swirling light stood in the middle of the room.  
"This is the castle's cherished Cornerstone," Minnie told us. "But look. The thorns…They must be the work of someone very evil. I wonder what this could mean…" Suddenly, a burst of green flames appeared in front of Queen Minnie, and there was an image of Maleficent standing before us.  
"Maleficent!" Donald gasped.  
"No way!" I whispered in horror.  
"Well, well, well. What have we here…?" she said. "If it isn't the wretched Keyblade holder, his little pet, and their pitiful lackeys!" I snarled, and if I'd had ears like a wolf, they would've flattened against my skull with rage; I HATE when people poke fun at my stature. Don't underestimate a small package, dang it!  
"What?! Now you're gonna deal with me!" Donald yelled at her, and leaped to attack, but went straight through her and smacked into the Cornerstone's base.  
"All in good time," Maleficent assured us. "I promise you'll be able to partake of my vengeance. But you must be patient."  
"Just what are you doing here, Maleficent?!" Minnie demanded of her.  
"Ah, Queen Minnie. Radiant, as always," Maleficent said, and bowed. "I'm here on a property venture. I want this castle for my own. However, it's a bit too 'bright' for what I have in mind. I suppose I'll just have to fill every room with my personal touch of darkness," She touched the Cornerstone of Light, but it rejected her hand.  
"You'd better stop right now if you know what's good for you!" Queen Minnie warned her angrily.  
"Ooh, how frightening," Maleficent mocked. "Very well. I'll stop…Just as soon as the castle belongs to me!" She vanished while cackling evilly.  
"What a hag," Sora remarked. I felt like my face was on fire, I was still that enraged by her insult. I took a deep breath and began to calm down.  
"Nothing like this has ever happened before," Minnie said, looking almost panicked. "I looked through all the records in the library, but I couldn't find a single clue."  
"Ohhh! We should go ask somebody who knows lotsa stuff that ain't in any book!" Goofy suggested.  
"Merlin the Wizard!" Donald realized.  
"Yes! That's perfect! Merlin just might know something about this mess," Minnie agreed. "Let's ask his advice!"  
"We saw him in Hollow Bastion, right?" Goofy asked.  
"Yeah. Let's go!" I said. With that, we flew to Hollow Bastion via the Gummi Ship, and arrived in Merlin's house. "Anybody home?"  
"Merlin!" Donald called out.  
"The castle's in danger!" Goofy added. Merlin appeared behind us.  
"What is all that racket? Ho-ho! I thought—oh, it's you!" Merlin said. "It looks like you've learned a bit since the last time I saw you."  
"Really?!" Sora and I said excitedly.  
"Wait a minute!" Donald interrupted. "Let's talk about the problem! It's Maleficent! She's back!"  
"Where? Inside the castle?!" Merlin demanded.  
"Yep! And Heartless, too," Goofy added.  
"Oh, dear…" Merlin sighed. Donald started to try to explain, but Merlin transported us all back to the Hall of the Cornerstone, where Minnie was waiting.  
"There's Heartless in every part of the castle! The Queen's in danger!" Donald said, but then looked around. "What?!" He realized we were back in the castle again.  
"Perhaps, I'd better just see for myself," Merlin said, leaving a disgruntled Donald behind. Merlin walked over to the Cornerstone, and began to look it over. "Mm-hmm…interesting…"  
"What's happening, Merlin?" Minnie asked anxiously.  
"This is not good. In fact, I'm afraid, it's quite serious," Merlin told all of us. He cleared his throat, and waved his arms, making a door appear in the room.  
"What's that?" I asked, watching it curiously.  
"My boys, that is a gateway to a special world," Merlin explained. "Someone in that world is responsible for what's going on in this castle. Of that, I'm certain."  
"Oh boy!" Donald said excitedly.  
"We knew we could count on you, Merlin!" Goofy agreed.  
"Then we should go get him!" Sora said, and we started to go to the door.  
"Wait a moment!" Merlin said, and we stopped. "The perpetrators must be stopped, of course. But there's something else to do first. Somewhere in that world, there should be another door that's identical to this one. I believe our enemies are utilizing that door. As long as it remains open, the castle will be in grave danger. Listen carefully, Sora and Shadow. You must find that door. And when you do—lock it with your Keyblade and light."  
"Got it," Sora and I said in unison.  
"You can count on us!" Donald assured him.  
"Now, one more thing. You're heading into a very special world," Merlin warned us. "While you're there, the nature of that world may tempt you to do something dark. You must resist that temptation at all costs!"  
"What do you mean?" I asked, puzzled.  
"You'll know soon enough," Merlin replied, smiling. "I have faith in you, my lads!" Sora and I walked over to the door, and struggled to open it. Once open, the four of us went through, and were thrown out to the other side. Goofy shook his head, trying to shake off the dizziness.  
"Hey, look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" Goofy cried out pointing. Sora and I walked over to it, then looked at ourselves.  
"Hey, what's going on?" Sora said curiously. "Everything's black and white." I had no complaints, because I'm already covered in black diamond armor as it is.  
"Hey, this is kinda like…um, uh…" Donald struggled to say.  
"Déjà vu?" Goofy suggested.  
"Yeah, that's it!" Donald realized.  
"Really? Have you been here before?" I asked. While I spoke, Pete walked behind us, heading off somewhere. He stopped when he spotted us, and approached.  
"Hey you! Seen any bad guys around here?" he asked. We all pointed at him, and he looked angry. "Why I oughta…Bah! I don't have time to waste on punks like you! So, I guess I'll go easy on ya!" He left in the direction he'd originally been headed.  
"Well, there's our villain," Sora commented. Donald and Goofy nodded, and we all left for the area Pete had left to. It was actually a pier, and Pete was standing near a river on the dock. We approached him.  
"What's with you squirts?" he demanded of us. "You got some kinda bone to pick with me?"  
"More than one!" Sora growled.  
"Them's fighting words!" Pete said, but a boat whistle blew somewhere nearby, and he started to leave. We quickly blocked his path.  
"Not so fast!" I snapped at him.  
"Yeah!" Donald agreed. We quickly fought him, and beat him, where he ended up sitting on the ground.  
"What's you punks' beef with me, anyway?" he demanded. He took a closer look at us. "Hmm…Who are ya? You new around here?"  
"Cut the act," Sora insisted. We heard the boat whistle again.  
"Whoa!" Pete said, and stood up too quickly, cracking his back. He fell over in pain. "Ooh, ow!"  
"You know, somethin' doesn't seem quite right here," Goofy observed. "Are you sure you're Pete?"  
"Well, of COURSE I'm Pete," Pete insisted. "I'm the captain of the steamboat. So stop botherin' me, see?" He waved his fist and his back cracked again. "So hit the road! I gotta go find the little runt what stole my boat!"  
"Gawrsh, maybe we made a mistake," Goofy told us as we were huddled together.  
"I'm starting to think the same thing," Sora agreed. "He hasn't even called any Heartless." We turned back to Pete.  
"Sorry we attacked ya like that, Captain Pete," Goofy apologized. He stood up.  
"Oh yeah?" Captain Pete said. "Well, if you're really sorry, then go find my steamboat."  
"Y-yes sir!" Sora stammered. Pete's back cracked again, and he fell over.  
"Ooh, my achin' back," he groaned. We all rushed over and helped him, and then we went back to Cornerstone Hill.  
"I thought for sure that Pete was the bad guy," I remarked as we walked to the Cornerstone.  
"Aw, that would be too easy," Donald pointed out.  
"C'mon, fellas. Let's try to find that steamboat," Goofy reminded us.  
"I guess we DID say we would…" Sora muttered.  
"Hey, we've got a door to find!" Donald reminded us.  
"Oh, yeah!" Sora said, remembering.  
"I don't see any doors," Donald said, looking around.  
"Huh? What's this?" I said. There was an odd window with a curtain on it nearby, and it was floating in midair. We walked over to it.  
"I can't see a thing…" Sora muttered. Donald walked around to the side, and pulled a drawstring, opening the curtains. We saw what seemed like a video of four small doors around the Cornerstone of Light, with a different pair of Heartless in front of each one. The doors opened and the Heartless entered, while another door started shaking nearby. We saw as it showed our arrival into this world, the door throwing us out onto the ground.  
"Hey, look! There's the Cornerstone of Light!" the Goofy in the video said. The Sora and Shadow in the video walked over to it, and looked at themselves.  
"What's going on?" video Sora said. "Everything's black and white."  
"Hey, this is kinda like…um, uh…" video Donald tried to say.  
"Déjà vu?" video Goofy suggested.  
"Yeah, that's it!" video Donald agreed.  
"Really? Have you been here before?" video Shadow asked, and the video ended with a flash and the curtains shut.  
"What was that?" Sora wondered.  
"Heartless goin' out…" Goofy began.  
"…and us, coming in," Donald finished.  
"What does it mean?" I wondered aloud. Donald pulled the drawstring again, but nothing happened. We noticed the four doors the Heartless had gone through nearby.  
"Let's get rid of those Heartless!" Sora suggested.  
"Then what'll we do?" Goofy asked him.  
"We'll worry about that later!" I told him. We entered a door with a construction building symbol on it, and found ourselves at a Building Site.  
"What're they building?" Sora wondered.  
"Look out!" Goofy yelled in warning. A Hammer Frame Heartless fell down from a beam above, but out of nowhere, Mickey swung in on a rope and sent it flying.  
"The King!" Donald exclaimed. Mickey waved to us from a beam above.  
"Gee, he seems kinda different somehow…" Goofy remarked. We saw several more Hammer Frame Heartless on the top beams.  
"Heartless! I knew it! You really saved the day!" Sora yelled to Mickey. The Heartless fell down to our platform, and we got ready for a fight. "Now, let's get those Heartless!" We managed to defeat all of the Heartless before the scaffolding fell, and when we did, Sora yelled, "How'd you like that?" Mickey ran over to Sora, shook his hand, waved, and took off.  
"Hey, look!" Goofy said suddenly, and he pointed at another one of those windows with the curtains. Donald went over and pulled the drawstring, and we watched the video. In the video, it showed Maleficent talking to someone, and boy was she MAD.  
"You absolute idiot!" she snapped at the person she was talking to. "You've managed to fail at everything! And what's more…you foolishly thought you could take my place while I was away. Well, as of now, you're finished. Mark my words, there'll be no place for you when our time comes!" She started to leave the room they were in. "Useless imbecile…" She left.  
"But-but…but I…" the person she had been speaking to stuttered. The video ended, and we all looked at each other, confused. We left back for Cornerstone Hill to talk.  
"What—?" Sora said, totally bewildered.  
"Somebody sure was angry," Goofy remarked.  
"I don't understand," Donald said, shaking his head.  
"Let's just try to clear out the Heartless first," I suggested. "This place is okay, but we've got three more spots to check." We then went through a door that had a symbol of someone being tied down on it. That place was the Lilliput, and it was way too small; either that, or we were way too big.  
"What?!" Donald yelped in shock.  
"The town's shrunk!" Sora assumed.  
"Or do ya think maybe we got bigger?" Goofy guessed. We saw a tall tower with cannons sticking out of it, and walked over.  
"Hey! Look at the toy cannons!" Sora laughed. We soon saw Mickey jumping up and down nearby us, and we watched him curiously.  
"What's he saying?" I wondered aloud. Suddenly, several Aeroplane Heartless flew into the sky, ready to attack. "Hey! There're Heartless!" We quickly fought the giant Heartless while protecting the town.  
"Man, that was weird!" Sora muttered. Mickey ran over, shook Sora's hand, waved, and took off again.  
"Look, Sora and Shadow! Over there!" Goofy exclaimed, and he was pointing at another one of those curtained windows. Donald pulled the drawstring, and we watched the video. The person who was talking wasn't visible still, but we listened to what he said and watched the video.  
"Aw, for cryin' out loud…she didn't have to go and say that," he said. "Okay, I mighta messed up every now and then. But I'm a lot more things than useless…Why, when I was startin' out…" He looked down. "Oh…I miss those good ol' days…What I wouldn't give to go back in time…" He sniffed. "What I wouldn't give…" A white door appeared behind the person, and he turned around to see it. "Huh?" He walked closer to the door and opened it, making bright light pour out. "Hey! I think that's my…" The video ended, and we left back to Cornerstone Hill to ponder it.  
"A door?" Sora said, seeming confused.  
"It looks familiar…" Donald murmured.  
"Yup—it's the door Merlin magic'd up!" Goofy realized.  
"So it should come straight here, right?" I guessed.  
"Sure! I think…" Goofy shrugged.  
"Let's check it out!" I said eagerly, and we left for the next door. This one had a fire symbol on it, and when we went through, there was a building on fire, wobbling about from the mayhem. I heard a fire engine siren, and I quickly resisted the urge to cover my head and screech in pain. I have a high pain tolerance, but loud noises…that's different.  
"Fire!" Sora yelled, and we rushed to the scene. Mickey ran out and was trying to protect the building from more flames. "C'mon, he needs our help!"  
"Majesty!" Donald yelped. We quickly fought off the Heartless there while protecting thee building. Once we had finished, the building's flames inside died down and it stopped wobbling. Mickey ran over to Sora, gave him another vigorous handshake, waved, and took off, AGAIN.  
"Well, that takes care of that!" I said.  
"Hey!" Goofy said suddenly, and pointed to a third one of those curtained windows. Donald pulled the drawstring, and we watched a video of Maleficent speaking with the same person as before, this time in front of the door.  
"Fascinating…This appears to be a portal to the past!" Maleficent commented.  
"Yeah, it was the strangest thing!" the person agreed.  
"Stop gawking!" she snapped at him. "And start thinking of a way we can use it to our advantage!"  
"Okay," the person agreed.  
"Now, perhaps I could give you one more chance to redeem yourself," she told him.  
"Oh, thank you, thank you! You can count on me…! So, what do I do?" he asked.  
"Patience, my dear…" she murmured, and looked back at the open door. "What have we here? Well, if it isn't the Cornerstone of Light…Mmm…Now we can take the castle from those fools—but we'll have to proceed with the utmost of care…" We regrouped back at Cornerstone Hill to talk.  
"Maleficent!" Donald gasped, shocked by what we had seen.  
"She must have known all along!" Sora assumed.  
"Let's see…if that door's connected to the past…" Goofy started to say, but Donald interrupted him.  
"No, no, no! It comes here!" he argued.  
"Huh?" Sora and I said, confused. I'm not dense, but I wasn't quite able to follow.  
"Then that means we're in the past!" Goofy gasped.  
"Wow. If we're in the past…" Sora started to say.  
"…we can change the future!" Donald realized.  
"Hold on, fellas!" Goofy quickly said, stopping Donald's thought. "Remember what Merlin said? He's got faith in us. And we have to resist temptation at all cost!"  
"Aw, I was only joking," Donald muttered, but I knew he hadn't been.  
"Who'd want to change the future, anyway?" I added. "So…what're we gonna do?"  
"Doors, bad guys…Gawrsh, my brain hurts!" Goofy grumbled.  
"Well, we know we're on the right track!" Donald pointed out. We left for the last door, which had a symbol of a house on it. Inside, there was a black hole in the middle of a living room. It started to pull in a lot of the furniture, and we saw Mickey run in and try to stop it from overtaking the house. He quickly ran away, however, when some Rapid Thruster Heartless appeared.  
"C'mon! He needs our help!" I ordered, and we rushed in, fighting the Heartless while protecting the furniture. Once we had beaten the Heartless, Mickey ran back over to me and Sora, shook both our hands this time, waved, and took off **yet again**.  
"Whew!" Sora sighed.  
"Huh?" Goofy said, looking confused. We saw yet another of those curtained windows, and Donald quickly pulled the drawstring. This time, we saw Maleficent standing in front of the person again, and she was dead serious with him.  
"Listen well," she instructed him. He nodded. "On the other side of this portal, they're about to begin construction of that wretched castle. But until then, their treasured Cornerstone of Light lies unguarded, with all of its power still contained!"  
"The Cornerstone…of Light?" the person said, confused. He looked back at the door, then to Maleficent again.  
"Yes! That cursed sphere is what prevents us from entering the castle," she snapped at him.  
"Oh."  
"You know what must be done?" she asked him.  
"Uh…"  
Go then," she ordered him. "Time to prove your worth! And don't dare to fail me again!" She left, and the person started to mutter to himself.  
"Don't fail her again…Let's see…" he muttered, and we saw a set of ears perk up. We saw in full view, Pete, who laughed. "That's it! I just gotta smash that Cornerstone to smithereens! But first…I gotta go get my old boat back." He opened the door, and the video ended. We left for Cornerstone Hill, where we regrouped.  
"It was Pete after all!" Sora gasped.  
"Why, he tricked us!" Donald growled angrily.  
"Still, something doesn't seem quite right," Goofy muttered.  
"Hmm…The Pete we met here had an attitude, but he didn't seem like a bad guy…" I pointed out. Donald suddenly noticed the Pete we know, and he pointed at him.  
"Look!" he yelled. Pete laughed loudly.  
"Now that castle's as good as ours!" he laughed, and ran to the Waterway.  
"That's the Pete we know!" I shouted, and Donald nodded.  
"Bad, bad, bad!" he yelled.  
"Oh, no!" Goofy cried out, and we looked to see that the Cornerstone of Light was missing.  
"The Cornerstone's gone!" Sora yelped.  
"But that means…" Donald started.  
"They're gonna fill the castle with darkness!" Goofy finished. "We gotta hurry!" Captain Pete ran through Cornerstone hill in the direction of the Waterway.  
"Hey, hold it right there!" Sora yelled at him.  
"No way, small fry! I finally found the pipsqueak what stole my steamboat!" he protested.  
"Yeah! It was you!" Donald accused.  
"Right, me!" Captain Pete said, pointing at himself. He realized what he had said, and quickly protested. "No! No! It wasn't me! It's just somebody who looks like me!" He sauntered into the Waterway.  
"Aw, which is it?!" Sora cried out, frustrated. We followed both Pete and Captain Pete into the Waterway, where they were fighting over the steamboat. The Cornerstone of Light was in a wooden cage on a raft attached to the steamboat.  
"Waaaait!" Captain Pete cried out.  
"Shuddup!" the Pete we knew snapped at him. Pete shoved the captain away. "Your future's on the line, pallie, so back off and give me the boat!" He punched Captain Pete, sending him flying.  
"The Cornerstone!" Donald cried out. Pete jumped onto the cage and began to leave.  
"After him!" I yelled. The steamboat began to float down the river, and Pete saluted us and laughed.  
"You mugs couldn't follow me if you wanted to!" he taunted. Sora readied his Keyblade, and I jumped off from his shoulder, ready to fight.  
"Later, losers!" Pete called to us, and he threw garbage at us, which Sora and I were swift to knock back at him. Once he had been hit enough, the steamboat swung around to us, and Sora and I climbed onto the hook of the steamboat. Once in place, we smacked and smashed at the cage until it broke apart, spilling Pete into the water. "You'll pay for this!" he yelled, but the raft knocked him underwater. The steamboat stopped moving, mercifully enough, and we ran over to check the Cornerstone.  
"It's the Cornerstone!" Donald said, relieved. Pete climbed out of the water, and shook himself off. He looked back to the boat, and then sighed and ran to the Wharf.  
"Donald, we'll come back for it later!" Sora yelled to him.  
"Pete's headin' for the doorway!" Goofy added. We ran to the Wharf, where Pete and Captain Pete were fighting. Pete punched the captain square in the face, and the captain fell back on the ground, holding his face.  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Captain Pete wailed.  
"Hah! You're still wet behind the ears!" Pete taunted his past self.  
"Then try us on for size!" I snarled, but Captain Pete blasted past Donald and Goofy, and the five of us fought Pete. We fought like crazy against Pete, and quickly beat him; Pete's a total pushover.  
"It serves ya right!" Captain Pete yelled at him. Pete stood up, looking upset.  
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!" Pete groaned. He huffed away, stopped, and held out his arms, making a doorway appear. It fell to the ground, and Pete left through it.  
"Yeah…Annnd stay out!" Captain Pete yelled after him.  
"Sora, Shadow!" Donald reminded us.  
"Yeah, we know!" we replied. Sora and I ran to the closed door, and locked it with the Keyblade and light.  
"Would somebody tell me what's been goin' on here?" Captain Pete demanded. "Who was that creep, anyways?"  
"Hello? That creep was you—" Sora began, but Goofy quickly covered his mouth, cutting him off.  
"Sora, that's a secret!" Goofy reminded him in a panicked tone.  
"Secret? What kind of secret?" Captain Pete asked. "Oh, never mind. Sorry I put you guys through all that trouble."  
"Yeah, well, just don't make a habit out of it!" Donald told him sternly. Sora, Goofy, and I chuckled.  
"And to show ya my appreciation, I'll let you pilot my steamboat," he told us thankfully. "Best little craft on the river! My deck hand Mickey's late anyway."  
Sora and I were able to guide the little steamboat down the river, the Cornerstone of Light still on the raft behind us. Donald jumped and pulled the rope to blow the whistle while Mickey lazily tapped his foot at the back of the raft. Once our little ride was over, we returned the Cornerstone to the hill.  
"I betcha the castle's safe now," Goofy said.  
"Guess we should head back," Sora and I replied.  
"Wait! As long as we're here…" Donald said, looking mischievous.  
"Donald!" Sora, Goofy, and I protested.  
"Huh? What? No, no, no!" Donald quickly tried to correct himself, but we grabbed Donald and dragged him to the door to Disney Castle. "Hey! What's the big idea?! Let me go! Let me GO!" We swung and tossed Donald in, and then we walked in after him. Donald fell out of the door into the room, and we followed by walking out. The hall of the Cornerstone was light and bright once again, as it should be.  
"Welcome back!" Queen Minnie greeted us. "Because of your bravery, the castle is safe and protected again. Thank you so much for all you've done!"  
"Good work, you guys!" Chip and Dale squealed.  
"Now boys, I hope you didn't do anything reckless while you were in there?" Merlin asked us.  
"Of course not!" Donald replied. Goofy, Sora, and I snickered at him. I saw another duck peek into the room, and Donald quickly turned his attention to her. "Daisy!" She walked in. "Daisy, I'm back!"  
"Who?" Sora and I asked curiously.  
"Daisy is Donald's very special sweetheart," Goofy explained.  
"Really…" Sora murmured. Daisy turned on Donald.  
"Donald! You forgot about our date again!" she snapped at him. "You'd better have a good excuse this time!"  
"But Daisy…I…" he tried to say.  
"I know it's an important mission, but you could at least check in every once in a while," she told him. Donald looked to Goofy, Sora, and me for support.  
"Sora, Shadow!" he begged. Donald looked over at the doorway, and snickered.  
"Donald!" Merlin warned. Donald bowed.  
"Just be a minute…" he said. He ran to the door, but Daisy grabbed him by the tail.  
"Goin somewhere?" she demanded.  
"Of course not!" he said, and tugged out of her grip, running away again.  
"Donald!" she yelled at him, and she chased him around the room. Everyone all laughed at the pair.  
"Oh, look!" Minnie suddenly said, and Sora and I saw that his Keyblade and my claws were glowing, as was the Cornerstone of Light. Everyone watched as we were swift in opening the next gate.  
"Daisy, we need Donald for a little longer," I told her.  
"How much longer?" she demanded.  
"Um, well…" I struggled to say. I didn't know how much longer it would take us to be finished with our journey.  
"I'll be back soon, Daisy!" Donald assured her.  
"Don't you worry, Queen Minnie. We'll return," Goofy told the Queen.  
"Please tell the King that we're still looking for him!" Sora and I told her.  
"I will!" she responded.  
"See you soon!" Chip and Dale added.  
"Think wisely!" Merlin advised us. We left for the Gummi Ship, and while we left for the next world, I thought about how my mate from my home world was feeling, and how much she and my friends and family probably missed me. My heart ached as I thought about it, and I was swift in shutting the thoughts away. It's just that when I saw Donald and Daisy, I thought about how that could've been my mate when I next saw her. I felt tears bud in the corners of my eyes, and I quickly wiped them away. I knew this was bad timing, because we couldn't afford to waste time; Riku, Kurai, Kairi, and the King were all waiting for us, and we had to find them as soon as possible. I didn't know what would lie ahead of us, but I knew my past would come to haunt me in the end of our journey. Maybe not just me, either. Maybe all of my friends would be affected, and I didn't want that. I just knew that my home, Dragon Realms, was safe, and it should hopefully stay that way, even if I decide not to return.


	11. A Pirate's Life For Me!

A/N: Chapter 11! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, and Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 11

A Pirate's Life For Me! And Some More Thoughts…

We arrived in the next world, which was called Port Royal. When we arrived, we looked about. The place was dark, and it was nighttime, the moon full and bright. Some dark night clouds covered them right now, but I could tell the moon was bright.  
"Wow!" Donald said in amazement.  
"Kinda different," Goofy agreed. We walked through the Rampart when we suddenly heard screams ringing out from the town.  
"Something's up!" I growled urgently.  
"Organization XIII?" Goofy wondered.  
"Or the Heartless!" Donald guessed.  
"Only one way to find out," Sora told us. We ran down to the Harbor where we saw Pete standing nearby, speaking with some pirates. "Hey!"  
"See there? I knew it! Those are the punks I was tellin' ya about," Pete said to the pirate captain.  
"Who are you calling punks?" I snarled. "It's Sora, Shadow, Donald, and Goofy to you! And don't you forget it!"  
"That we won't," the pirate captain replied. "And we'll engrave it on your tombstone, to be sure."  
"Whoa! I like your style," Pete complimented the captain.  
"Men—half of you stay here and indulge these cullies," the captain ordered his men. "The rest of you—bring me that medallion!"  
"Aye!" the pirate crew agreed and half of them took off for the town, while the rest stayed behind so we could fight them.  
"Aw, we only get to stomp on a few of you?" Sora taunted, making himself sound disappointed. The captain laughed, and we started to fight, only to find that none of our attacks were hitting them. "It's no use! We can't beat them!"  
"Aye, whaddya expect?" one of the pirates replied. Suddenly, the moonlight came shining through the evening clouds, and the pirates we were fighting turned into skeletal creatures. We gasped in shock; I had never seen anything like it! "You'd best be sayin' your prayers!"  
"Hey, watch out! They can see ya! Stay away from their magic!" Pete warned the pirates, and thus giving us a hint.  
"What for?" the same pirate said as though he didn't care.  
"Weren't ya listenin' to me before?" Pete cried in exasperation.  
"Hey, Pete thanks for the tip!" Sora and I called to him, and I cackled. Pete quickly looked like he was frustrated, and he shut his mouth. We quickly defeated the pirates, and then confronted Pete.  
"Hey! This ain't over!" Pete said stubbornly, and he fled.  
"If Pete's here, that must mean we have work to do," I pointed out.  
"Yep," Goofy agreed. "And that pirate captain looked pretty mean, too."  
"Man, I'd hate to see him turn into a Heartless," Sora remarked.  
"Well, we ARE here…" Donald pointed out.  
"Hey, maybe we can take a pirate ship out for a spin!" Sora said suddenly. Donald, Goofy, and I looked at him, surprised by the idea. "Just kidding! Weren't those guys headed into town?"  
"Yeah," Goofy confirmed. "I think they were looking for treasure." We ran into town and saw a woman being carried off by a pirate as she angrily beat on his back with her fists.  
"Where are you taking me?! Let me go!" she screamed at him. A blacksmith saw her being carried away, and he started to give chase.  
"Elizabeth!" he yelled. "Stop!" The Heartless suddenly stopped him, and he froze. "What are they?" he wondered.  
"It's the Heartless! Watch out!" Donald shrieked in warning. We quickly ran in, ready to fight.  
"We'll deal with them! Go! Take cover!" Sora ordered the man. He ran off in an attempt to catch up with and save his friend. We quickly fought the Heartless, and beat them, thanks to a new Form Sora and I had gained when we had finished in Disney Castle: Wisdom Form. We glided around, and used magic to shoot energy at the Heartless, quickly taking them out. Once they were all gone, the man returned.  
"Well done!" he praised. "My own fencing skills are not to be ashamed of…but I've never faced foes such as that before."  
"You really think we're that good?" Sora asked eagerly.  
"Did you find your friend?" Goofy questioned the man.  
"I was too late," he murmured. "But I must rescue her! Would you help me?"  
"Of course!" I replied, smiling pleasantly. "I'm Shadow; this is Sora, Donald, and Goofy.  
"And I'm William Turner, but call me Will," he told us.  
"Okay, Will," Sora said. "Let's go!"  
"Right! We've got to get to the docks!" he stated determinedly. We ran to the harbor, but the pirate ship had already left the port. "We're too late!"  
"Huh?" Sora said to him, confused.  
"Those pirates kidnapped Miss Swann and took her to their ship," he explained. "Now they've sailed, and I'll never be able to find her!"  
"Then she's long gone," a voice said from behind us. We turned around, and saw another pirate climbing onto a ship. "The Black Pearl is nigh uncatchable. Best find yourself another girl, mate."  
"You…What are you doing aboard the Interceptor?" Will demanded of him. "She's off limits to civilians."  
"Ah, fortunate that I'm going to commandeer her, then," he replied with a slight smile. "She'll make an excellent pirate ship."  
"A pirate!" Sora breathed, and his eyes shone with excitement as we walked over to the ship. The pirate appeared on the deck.  
"Captain Jack Sparrow, if you please," he requested of us.  
"Take me with you," Will begged. "Help me hunt down the Black Pearl and save Miss Swann. I got you out of that jail cell, Sparrow. Do this and your debt's repaid."  
"You'll have to win the fair lady's heart alone, mate," Jack told Will. "I see no profit in it for me."  
"C'mon, Captain!" Sora insisted.  
"Are you sure you can sail her, all on your own?" Will pressed, making Jack look nervous. Jack looked thoughtful, and then glanced at us.  
"You've a point there," he answered. We started to climb aboard and Jack descended the ramp.  
"Thanks, Sparrow," Will told him as they passed.  
"CAPTAIN Sparrow," Jack corrected. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I approached Jack.  
"We're Sora and Shadow," Sora told him. "This is Donald and Goofy."  
"I'm Will Turner," Will added.  
"That would be short for William, I imagine," Jack replied. "No doubt named for your father, eh?"  
"Yes," Will confirmed.  
"Well, then, Mr. Turner," Jack started. "You get us ready to make way. I've some effects to liberate."  
"Aye-aye! But hurry," Will replied.  
"Naturally."  
"Sora!" Donald said, looking concerned.  
"You really wanna be a pirate?" Goofy asked, looking just as concerned. I stared at them, surprised; Sora had never expressed any interest in pirates, even as a young boy, so hence I had thought he wouldn't be that interested now.  
"Of course not!" Sora assured them. Jack approached us.  
"What do you make of this Will?" he asked us.  
"We don't know. We just met him," I answered honestly, shrugging one shoulder.  
"Hmm…" Jack murmured to himself. "I think my luck's about to change." And with that, we cast off for the Black Pearl. As we sailed, Jack set a course for the enemy ship, and he stared at a compass as we sailed.  
"Why are you so fixated on that compass?" Will asked Jack.  
"It'll be she that guides us to the Isla de Muerta—where Barbossa's headed. Savvy?" he told us.  
"How do you know?" Sora asked, a little curious. Jack closed the compass and put it away.  
"Ah, lads…He and I once had our eyes on a treasure—Aztec gold," he explained. "'Twas hidden on the Isla de Muerta. But he turned traitor and stole my ship."  
"So he's after that treasure, then," I guessed.  
"Treasure's already his," Jack corrected. "So's the curse upon it. I've no desire for such treacherous spoils. But I will have back what's mine—the Black Pearl." As he spoke, he docked the Interceptor at the rock face of the Isla de Muerta. He turned to Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I and said, "You lads wait here. Young Turner and I will rescue the lady."  
"Hey! What about us?" Sora protested.  
"You're to guard the ship, 'o course," Jack replied smoothly. "It's a task given only to the bravest of pirates."  
"All right…" the brunette grumbled.  
"Guard her well!" Jack ordered us, and he and Will left for the cave. We waited, and after what felt like hours but had only been several minutes had passed, we looked at one another.  
"I think he was just trying to fast-talk us…" Sora muttered. I scowled in response at his words.  
"And you both fell for it," Donald pointed out, making me glare at him.  
"What's keeping those two?" I wondered.  
"They sure are taking their time…" Goofy murmured.  
"If Pete's hanging around, there must be Heartless here, too," Sora said, and I nodded in agreement. "And Jack and Will aren't used to fighting Heartless…Let's go see." We made our way to the entrance of the cave when we saw Will and Elizabeth running towards us.  
"Quick! They're after us!" Will shouted in warning. Pirates ran through the cave, coming after them.  
"We'll hold them off!" Sora said hurriedly. "Give us a sign when the ship's ready to sail!"  
"Right! We'll light the signal flare!" Will replied, and he and Elizabeth quickly fled to the ship. The four of us fought off the pirates for about a minute when I smelled the scent of fire. I glanced up while holding a pirate pinned to the ground, and saw the signal flare shoot into the night sky.  
"The signal!" I yelled to my comrades, and we quickly fled to the ship, fighting off the remaining pirates that tried to chase us. We got to the ship safely, and set sail into the open sea. We looked about, and noticed Jack was missing.  
"Where's Jack?" Sora asked.  
"Well…" Will said hesitantly, and he explained. Pretty much, long story short, Will knocked Jack out with an oar and ditched him. "I had to. Jack's no fairy-tale pirate. The real ones aren't to be trusted."  
Later, while we were sailing back to Port Royal, Elizabeth was watching the sea as the wind blew through her hair when she spotted something in the distance.  
"Will, look!" she shouted, and we all ran to see what she was looking at. It was the Black Pearl, sailing straight towards us.  
"What now?" Donald asked.  
"I wonder what Jack would do?" Sora wondered aloud.  
"I'm not sure. I suppose…he'd run for it," Will guessed. We heard a cannon shot being fired, and I got nervous.  
"Sounds good to me," I agreed wholeheartedly. Suddenly, the Interceptor was hit by cannon fire, and the whole ship rocked. Everyone lost their balance, and I launched myself into the air to avoid losing MY balance. Will fell backwards over the edge of the ship, but tried to cling on to a small ledge. He couldn't hold on, though, and fell into the water.  
"Will!" Elizabeth shrieked. We heard another cannon shot, and Goofy reacted first.  
"Everyone hit the deck!" he shouted. The cannon shot hit our ship again, and they all fell over. I spotted something shiny, and darted over to grab it; it was the medallion.  
"We're just gonna have to fight!" Sora said as he regained his balance. I lowered myself back onto the ship, and folded my wings tight against my back again. We turned the Interceptor around to run alongside the Black Pearl, and began to fight them off as they invaded the ship. Sora and I simultaneously protected the medallion from the pirates while fighting them off and launching cannon shots at the enemy ship. I snarled as I clawed and bit through the pirates, and Sora used magic and strength combinations while Goofy used his shield, and Donald used his magic from his staff. Once we had fought off all of the invading pirates and shot enough cannonballs at the Black Pearl, the enemy ship was covered in a black haze.  
"Hooray!" Donald cheered.  
"We beat the pirates!" Sora cheered as well. I heard the sound of the wood of the deck creak from behind us, and I knew it was too soon to speak.  
"Well, did you now, laddies?" Barbossa said, and we whipped around to see him with Elizabeth, Jack, and some of the pirates. I bristled angrily.  
"Jack!" I yelped. Jack giggled nervously, and more pirates joined us.  
"Now then, I'll be having back that medallion. Unless it's more important than their lives?" Barbossa threatened.  
"Barbossa!" Will's voice shouted at him. We all turned to see Will standing on the edge of the ship, aiming a pistol at the pirate captain. "She goes free!"  
"Go ahead boy—shoot! We can't die," Barbossa said, calling his bluff.  
"You can't…But I can!" Will replied, and pointed the gun at his own head. "My name is Will Turner! My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner! His blood runs in my veins!" Barbossa stared at him, shocked. "On my word, do as I say, or I'll pull this trigger and be lost to Davy Jones' Locker."  
"Name your terms…Mr. Turner," Barbossa said as calmly as he could.  
"Release Elizabeth…and Sora and Shadow, and Donald, and Goofy, too!" Will ordered.  
"Anythin' else?" Barbossa pressed. Jack tried to get Will's attention to set him free.  
"Leave now!" Will added, and Jack sighed as Barbossa bowed.  
"Agreed," Barbossa replied. "Leave we shall…but the Heartless stay!" We heard Pete's laugh, and Sora and I watched helplessly as Pete knocked Will out cold with an oar. Several Air Pirate Heartless appeared, and Pete ran off with Will in hand.  
"No fair!" Sora yelled, and I thought, _'What makes you think they would've played fair in the first place?'_ Sora, Donald, Goofy, Elizabeth, Jack, and I were taken down to the ship's hold below deck, where we were bound with ropes; I, on the other hand, was thrown into an iron cage with a lock.  
"Good work, Barbossa!" Pete praised the captain. "Who knew it'd be this easy?"  
"Barbossa, you coward!" Elizabeth yelled.  
"That's the last time I trust a pirate!" Sora said angrily, and a deep growl rumbled in my chest in response to his anger.  
"The powder kegs are ready, Captain!" a pirate yelled to Barbossa.  
"Then I bid ye farewell!" the pirate captain called down to us, and they shut the hatch and left the ship.  
"What are we gonna do?!" Donald wailed in panic.  
"We'll be blown to smithereens!" Goofy cried out.  
"Why struggle, mate? A pirate knows when to surrender," Jack replied calmly.  
"Are you serious?!" I screeched at him. "We're all gonna die!"  
"Your average pirate, anyway," Jack added, and I heard him cut his ropes with his knife and he stood up. "First, we've got to see to the gunpowder. I'm not about to lose this ship!"  
"I still don't plan to trust pirates again," Sora muttered, and I nodded with complete agreement.  
"Wise policy, lads," Jack remarked, and he cut each of my friends' bonds and Sora broke the lock on my cage, releasing me. I stretched, feeling much less cramped than I was when in the cage. Elizabeth stayed beneath the deck while the rest of us quickly dashed up to the main deck, where five kegs of gunpowder were close to exploding. We made quick work of them, Sora and I knocking all five into the ocean, where they sank to the bottom.  
"All clear!" Sora and I called to Jack, and he ran to the helm, taking control.  
"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away on my ship," Jack muttered angrily to himself. "But I'll be havin' her back soon enough." We returned to the Isla de Muerta, where Jack silently docked the ship. Jack turned to Elizabeth once we all stood on the rocks of the island. "You stay with the ship, lass!"  
"I'll do no such thing!" Elizabeth protested. "Will could die in there."  
"Dear William is fine. Trust me," Jack told her.  
"Then trust us instead!" Sora and I tried. She looked at us.  
"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow—bring Will back safely!" she begged us. We nodded to her, and ran to the cave. We fought our way through the cave, and ran into the last cave where all of the pirates and Barbossa and Will were at.  
"Ahoy! Treasure, mateys!" Sora yelled as we ran in, and I almost snickered.  
"Not possible," Barbossa breathed.  
"Not probable! We're alive and we're pirates!" Donald retorted.  
"Captain Jack Sparrow!" Jack announced.  
"Sora!"  
"Shadow!"  
"Donald Duck!"  
"Goofy, too."  
"So you want to play pirate?" Barbossa taunted. "Save the playacting for the nursery. After them!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I quickly fought off the pirates while Jack attended to his own affairs. We beat them, and turned serious.  
"No more playacting now!" Sora yelled at the remaining pirates who fled.  
"Thank you, Sora and Shadow!" Will thanked us.  
"Uh, where's Jack?" Goofy wondered. We heard the clang of metal on metal, and saw Jack and Barbossa crossing blades.  
"Jack! Get him!" Sora cheered to him.  
"Huh?" Jack said, and looked at us, distracted. As soon as he was, Barbossa plunged his sword into Jack's gut. Sora and I gasped in horror.  
"Jack!" we cried out in a panicked tone.  
"You're a fool, Jack Sparrow," Barbossa taunted. Jack staggered back into a patch of moonlight, where he became a skeletal version of himself. He held up his hand and examined it, then rolled a pirate medallion in his other hand's knuckle.  
"Jack…" Will murmured. Barbossa looked at all of us angrily, and looked about.  
"Show yourself, Pete! The tide has changed," he yelled. Pete appeared, looking cocky.  
"See? I told ya you'd be needin' ol' Pete!" Pete replied. He whistled, and an Illuminator Heartless crawled down along the cave wall, its eyes glowing and its tongue lolling about. It hopped from rock to rock, ending up behind Barbossa on the rock wall. As the whole cave became dark, we swiftly started to search for the Illuminator, finding it by its glowing yellow eyes. Once the darkness had faded, we began the fight with Barbossa. He would charge at us, slashing his sword with the skill of an expert, and we would jump, dodging his attack. Sora and I were swift in using a tag team attack of light and the Keyblade, and we finished him off. Pete looked at us with a panicked expression.  
"This ain't over!" he said stubbornly, and fled.  
"Right! Care to surrender, Barbossa?" Jack asked his enemy. Barbossa's sword was still drawn. "Well, enough of this, then…" Jack dropped his sword and pulled out a pistol. "What say you we call it—a draw?"  
"Jack, how many times do I have to tell ya—" Barbossa started to say, but Jack tossed the medallion, and shot the only bullet left in his pistol. Barbossa just laughed.  
"Laugh while you can, Barbossa!" Will snapped at him. Will, holding the knife, dropped the two medallions into the stone chest, stained with his blood. Barbossa stopped laughing as he was lifted of the curse.  
"I feel…cold," he whispered, and collapsed to the ground. We left the cave, and started to talk as we approached the ship.  
"What now, Jack?" Will asked the pirate.  
"Whatever I want, now that the Pearl is mine again," Jack replied.  
"That she is. Thank you, Jack," Will told him gratefully. He reached out to shake Jack's hand, but Jack flinched with his arms over his head.  
"I didn't want ye hittin' me again, mate," Jack explained.  
"Hey, Jack—Good luck," Sora and I told him as I perched on Sora's shoulder.  
"And remember to be good!" Donald added.  
"I'm off," Jack said, and started to turn to leave, but looked in the other direction as Elizabeth ran towards us.  
"Will!" she cried out, and Jack opened his arms as if he thought he was getting the embrace, but she ran right past him and hugged Will instead.  
"Good for them," I sighed happily.  
"Uh-huh," Goofy agreed. He looked at Sora, and began to tease him. "Hey, Sora—how come your face is all red?" Goofy pointed at him, and Sora quickly tried to cover his face, looking embarrassed.  
"What? It is not!" Sora argued.  
"Aw, I know who you're thinking about," Donald teased as well. I chuckled as Donald and Goofy laughed. Jack pulled out his compass, but it then glowed brightly and rose into the air, glowing brightly. Sora and I unlocked the next gate, and Sora looked at Donald, a devious grin on his face.  
"You know…for a minute there…I was afraid we were gonna lose Donald to the curse of the treasure!" he said jokingly, but Donald took him seriously. Goofy, however, played along.  
"Yup. Me, too," he said, and smiled.  
"What?!" Donald shrieked. And with that, we left for the next world. While traveling, however, I took some more time to reflect on my situation about my current life and my past life from my own world. I knew I would have to let them know somehow that I was okay, but I didn't know how other than to just return, in which case I might never come back to be with my current friends. I didn't want that, but I knew they were sad and worried sick. I sighed, feeling the indecision weighing heavily on my small shoulders. I wanted desperately to stay, or at least that's what my head told me, but my heart was weighed down with sadness as I thought about staying with my friends. I knew Kikoku, my mate, Denkou, my best friend, and my other friends and especially my family were worried about me. I looked out the window as we traveled, watching the stars and thinking of my mother, Reidou, my father, Naiya, and even my older half-sister, Shunketsu. I missed them all so much, and I knew they missed me, too. I was scared to think of what their reactions would be if I returned or even if I came and left, telling them I wouldn't be staying. I decided to wait until our journey was over, and then go home, but try to bring Sora, Kairi, and Riku with me to help let my family decide for me if I should stay or go back with my friends, and come back to visit. Even Kurai had to miss our old home world, so I knew that he would come with, too. It was all so complicated…


	12. We're Back in Agrabah!

A/N: Another update! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 12

We're Back In Agrabah! But…How Are Things?

We soon landed in Agrabah, and we walked through the streets to find our old friends. As we made our way through, we started a small conversation.  
"Agrabah! We made it!" Donald said excitedly.  
"Gawrsh, I wonder how Aladdin 'n' Jasmine are doing?" Goofy mentioned.  
"Hey, maybe Riku and Kurai are with them!" Sora said eagerly, getting his hopes up. I shook my head slowly with a slight smile, but still felt a twinge of hope at being able to see our friends.  
"Yeah, and the King!" Goofy added.  
"Keep dreaming, you two," Donald scoffed.  
"C'mon, Donald, you were thinking the same thing," I teased.  
"No, I wasn't!" Donald snapped.  
"Uh-oh, it's uh…um…It's Iago!" Goofy shouted out of nowhere. Sora and Donald whipped out their weapons while I jumped down and snarled. It was indeed the old bird friend of our enemy here, Jafar.  
"Wait!" he tried to protest. "You got me all wrong!"  
"You're Iago all right!" Donald snapped.  
"No! I mean, it's not the old me! I turned over a new feather. I'm legit! No more scams. Promise!" he squawked.  
"Bet that's your new scam," Sora growled.  
"Ya gotta believe me!" Iago begged.  
"Sora, Shadow, let's go!" Donald urged.  
"I was stuck in that lamp with Jafar," Iago muttered. "Remember? Well, I finally escaped. But then some things happened and…" He landed on the steps near us.  
"So. Free as a bird, huh?" Sora said.  
"Have fun!" Donald said sarcastically.  
"Gawrsh, fellas," Goofy said, looking like he felt sympathetic for the parrot. "He looks pretty sad." Iago quickly flew over to Goofy.  
"I wanna apologize to Aladdin and Jasmine," he told us. Goofy caught him in his hands as he spoke. "Could you guys maybe put in a good word for me?"  
"Sure, we can do that, can't we?" Goofy offered. Suddenly, Iago saw something behind us.  
"Watch out!" he squawked. We quickly turned and saw some Luna Bandit Heartless had snuck up behind us, and we leapt into the fray, fighting off the waves of Heartless. We soon had to back away, though, because there were too many.  
"Where are they all coming from?" I wondered. Two of them ran for Iago, trying to get him, but he went airborne, making the pair knock into each other. He flew past an urn, and that fell over, hitting another Heartless. He even brushed past a couple of crates, and they both toppled over and onto the Heartless. We used the distraction to make a run for it.  
"This way!" Sora yelled, and we fled into a side street, Iago still with us. We stopped once in the Peddler's Shop, trying to catch our breath.  
"Aw, we'd've been goners if Iago hadn't helped us. Ain't that right, fellas?" Goofy told us.  
"I guess we owe you one," Sora said, still seeming a tad bit upset over it.  
"Perfect!" Iago squawked happily.  
"But you'll have to win over Aladdin and Jasmine yourself," I added. "Be on your best behavior, got it?"  
"Yeah, I got it," Iago replied eagerly.  
"Where IS Aladdin, anyway?" Goofy wondered.  
"I betcha he's at the palace," the bird answered.  
"Then let's go!" Sora and I said. We left for the palace, and walked into the Palace Gates, where Princess Jasmine was standing.  
"Jasmine!" Sora called out to her. She turned around and saw us.  
"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow!" she said happily.  
"Your Majesty," Donald said respectfully, and he bowed. Sora, Goofy, and I followed suit, and she giggled at us.  
"I never had the chance to thank you before," she told us. "You helped Aladdin defeat that awful Jafar and save Agrabah."  
"All in a day's work," I replied with a grin. "But uh…it looks like the Heartless are up to no good again." I noticed out of the corner of my eye Iago peek out from behind Goofy, wave, and then hide again.  
"Is there any way we can help you out?" Sora asked her.  
"I think we're all right for now," she assured us.  
"And ya always got Aladdin," Goofy added.  
"He…hasn't been himself lately," she murmured worriedly.  
"Is it because of the Heartless?" Donald demanded suspiciously, pulling out his staff.  
"I'm not sure," she answered. "Usually he's the same cheerful Aladdin. But sometimes…he just seems sad. He leaves the palace and goes off by himself all the time. I've asked him about it, but he says nothing's wrong. He's gone again today. What if he doesn't come back this time?" Suddenly, Iago flew up from behind Goofy.  
"Hey, maybe he's got a secret girlfriend," he said. "I know! I'll go find out who she is!"  
"Iago! Quick, Sora and Shadow, catch him!" Jasmine said as the foolish bird tried to hide behind Sora and me. "And I'll warn the guards and everyone in the palace!"  
"That's the thing, Iago's not…" Sora tried to say, but Jasmine had already run off into the palace. The two of us sighed heavily. "Nice move."  
"Maybe it's something you said," Goofy guessed. "Gee, maybe we should go talk to Aladdin. He's gotta be somewhere in town, right?"  
"Good idea," I nodded. "I wonder what he's been doing." We walked back into town, and heard a voice yell something.  
"Stop, thief!" the voice yelled. A monkey ran by carrying a black lamp, and Aladdin ran past as well, chasing the monkey.  
"Hi Sora, Shadow!" he said as he ran past. The Peddler raced after them.  
"Come back here!" he yelled. Iago flew after them as we gave chase. Aladdin and Abu, the monkey, reached a wall, and the Peddler stormed up to them. Abu clutched the lamp tightly.  
"If you can't control that fur ball…put a leash on him!" the Peddler snapped.  
"Look, I'm sorry…" Aladdin apologized. He then turned on Abu and scolded him. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Abu!" Abu gave the lamp to Aladdin. "No hard feelings?" He gave the lamp to the Peddler, who snatched it back and stomped off in a huff. "Abu!" The little monkey covered his head with his arms, and then he saw us and ran over. "Hey guys, sorry about that earlier. I was kinda in a hurry."  
"What happened?" Sora asked.  
"You know Abu. He couldn't keep his paws off that lamp," he explained. Abu started to try to protest, but Aladdin stopped him. "No talking your way out of this one!" We all laughed at that.  
"I guess you can't be THAT down in the dumps, huh?" Sora told him, folding his hands behind his head.  
"Who said I was?" Aladdin asked.  
"Princess Jasmine," Goofy answered. "She's worried 'cause you're always in town."  
"Got a new girlfriend?" Donald teased.  
"No way!" Aladdin protested. "Still…I guess there's no foolin' Jasmine, huh? See, Genie and Carpet took off to see the world. It's what Genie always wanted, so I wished him the best and all, but…"  
"You miss him," Goofy finished his statement.  
"Man, things must be REALLY quiet with Genie gone," I remarked.  
"Yeah," Aladdin agreed. "That's why I come here. The action—the people. There's always something goin' on. I mean, c'mon! I met you guys here today, right? This place is full of surprises."  
"Uh, Sora, Shadow?" Goofy said, and pointed to Iago, who was on the ground, trembling with fear.  
"Iago?!" Aladdin gasped.  
"Oh, right…He wants to apologize for all the trouble he caused," Sora explained.  
"Oh, he does?" Aladdin said doubtfully.  
"Gawrsh, he's so sorry, he's shakin'!" Goofy added.  
"Th-th-that lamp!" Iago stammered.  
"What about it?" Aladdin said, curious.  
"It was THE lamp!" the bird squawked with fear.  
"C'mon. There're a million like it," Aladdin scoffed. Iago flew up to Aladdin as he spoke.  
"Hey! I was locked up in that thing FOR MONTHS! There's no way I'd mistake it!" he shrieked. Abu grabbed his hat and looked upset as though he was saying, 'That's what I was trying to say!'  
"Then we'd better go back and talk to that Peddler," Aladdin said.  
"Right behind you," Sora and I nodded. We returned to the Peddler's shop, where we spoke with him.  
"Is there any way we can buy that lamp from you?" I asked.  
"Of course. That is…IF you can afford it," he said, looking sly. Sora and I looked to the entrance, where Aladdin gave us a signal.  
"No worries!" Sora replied.  
"Yeah, we can pay you in royal treasu—" Donald started to say, but we quickly cut him off.  
"Donald!" we shouted at him. Apparently, Donald doesn't know when to keep his mouth shut.  
"Might I be able to interest you in another fine lamp?" the Peddler offered, looking interested about the idea of treasure.  
"No, that's the one we need," I declined. He was interested only in his own profit, that much was obvious.  
"Ah, well—perhaps I can be persuaded…IF you bring me a treasure even beyond my imagination. Something, say, fit for a sultan…" he said, and we left, knowing we would have to accept his offer.  
"Treasure? That could be tricky…" Aladdin muttered as we joined him.  
"There's lots at the palace," Donald pointed out.  
"But it's not mine to take," Aladdin replied. "And I can't ask. I don't want to worry Jasmine or the Sultan." Iago flew over with a suggestion.  
"Hey, I know…What about the treasure in the Cave of Wonders?" he offered.  
"All right, Iago. You lead the way!" Aladdin replied. "And after we get the treasure, I might even believe your apology."  
"You can count on me!" Iago assured him. We made our way through the desert to the Cave of Wonders, where we entered the tiger's head. "This is it!"  
We fought our way through until we had to do a puzzle, which we easily solved, and then made our way to a platform. There was a plaque, and when we read it, it glowed and we had to fight our way along on vanishing platforms until we got to the bottom one. Once there, we read the next plaque, and the door before us opened. When through, we were greeted by what I guessed must have been at least a ton of treasure, many of it in piles around the room. At the very end of the treasure room was a jeweled trophy.  
"There. That one should do it," Aladdin told us.  
"Oh boy. It's perfect. That guy's gonna like this," Donald agreed.  
"Sure looks valuable," Sora added, and I nodded in agreement.  
"Great! Now let's go get that lamp," Aladdin said. "We gotta keep Jafar bottled up, or he's gonna destroy Agrabah!" Abu and Iago were trying to hoist up a jeweled statue, but Donald noticed them.  
"Stop!" he snapped at the pair while stomping his foot. They dropped it, but the jewel suddenly enticed Donald.  
"Hey, snap out of it, Donald!" Aladdin scolded. Donald shook his head vigorously to snap out of it. Suddenly, the room grew darker, and Heartless appeared all around us.  
"Why does this always happen?" Donald groaned, and we quickly fought off all of the Heartless in the darkened room. Once they were all gone, the room became bright again, and we looked at each other.  
"Let's go!" I said, and we took off, leaving the Cave of Wonders and making our way to the Peddler's Shop.  
"Hello!" Aladdin called out when we went inside. There was no one there, but we heard two voices outside.  
"Stop your whining and hand it over!" Pete's voice shouted. Pete was here?!  
"Ohh no! I'm trading this for treasure. This lamp is going to bring me riches!" the Peddler's voice protested. We ran out of the shop and saw Pete chasing the Peddler around, the latter one holding the black lamp that contained Jafar.  
"Oh no, you don't! Get back here, you!" Pete yelled after him. We chased after them to the palace gates, where Pete caught up to the Peddler. "Thank you." He ran off after grabbing the lamp from the Peddler's hands. The Peddler was in hot pursuit, looking determined to get that lamp.  
"It's mine!" he yelled at Pete, and dove for it, snatching the lamp away from Pete. Pete realized it was gone and stomped after the Peddler.  
"Lamp hog!" he yelled.  
"Go away!" the Peddler snapped back.  
"Gotcha!" Pete suddenly said, and he held the lamp high in the air above the Peddler's head, and holding the small man down with the other. The Peddler tried to jump, but couldn't.  
"No fair!" he protested.  
"Heh heh, I win!" Pete declared. Out of nowhere, though, Iago flew over and snatched the lamp from Pete's hand. Pete's ears pricked up and he realized his hand was lighter, and he looked up to see the lamp was missing from his hand. The Peddler had caught on and tried to jump for the lamp to take it from Iago, but he was too short.  
"Nice one, Iago!" Sora called out to him.  
"Way to go!" Aladdin cheered.  
"Don't drop it!" Donald warned.  
"Look! Behind you!" Goofy yelled to the bird in warning. Pete and the Peddler were both chasing Iago, but he made a sharp turn, making the pair crash into a wall. The Peddler fell to the ground while Pete got back to his feet. He rubbed his head and saw Iago, who was flying away. Iago looked back behind him, but knocked into a wall, dropping the lamp and struggling to get back up. Pete picked up the lamp and laughed.  
"Nice try, bird brain," Pete taunted him. "Just wait till Jafar's free! He's gonna make one beauty of a Heartless!" Suddenly, the ground shook and rumbled, and we saw a big, blue something fly in from the sky.  
"I'm HOME!" Genie announced, and he flew over to Pete. "Al, it's been eons!" He hugged Pete, who was stunned from the tightness of the hug. "Al, you princely little muffin, you!" Genie teleported back into the air. "Cosmic travel can get so lonely without a friend." He placed an arm on Pete's shoulder, and then teleported and placed his other arm on Pete's other shoulder. "To think I left you forlorn and Genie-less…Oh, the HUMANITY!" Genie shook Pete, and then rubbed his eyes with fake tears pouring out. He was still totally oblivious to Aladdin, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and me standing right there.  
"Genie?" Aladdin said, trying to get his attention.  
"Hey, Al, you've been puttin' on weight?" Genie asked, and made himself grow several feet wider. "Aw, of course, what am I saying? You're living at the palace now." He spun around, and a second Genie appeared. "Aladdin!" one of them said in Jasmine's voice. "Jasmine!" the other said in Aladdin's voice. The pair hugged, and fireworks shot off in the air behind them. One made a heart shape in the sky, and Genie reappeared next to Pete, who was totally disheveled. "I can just picture it…" He slapped a hand on Pete's back, making me wince because it sounded like it hurt. "Wait, tell me. Am I being a pest? Just a big blue pest? Aw, who cares, Al! I'm just so glad to SEE you!" Genie shook both of Pete's hands, and Pete almost lost his balance. Aladdin walked over.  
"Genie!" he said, and Genie looked at him. He looked from Aladdin to Pete, and then let go of Pete's hands.  
"Oops!" Genie said, looking a slight bit embarrassed. Pete snapped out of his daze and glared furiously at Genie and Aladdin. Meanwhile, the pair hugged as Genie picked him up and laughed.  
"I'll teach you to make a fool out of me!" Pete yelled at them. "Time for Plan B! I'm finishin' you mugs off right now!" He slammed his fist into the ground, and a deep rumbling from the ground ensued. A large geyser appeared and destroyed a wooden cart, and the Blizzard Lord appeared. The bushes lining the courtyard burst into flame as the Volcanic Lord appeared. The two Lords struck their staffs together, and we leapt into combat. Sora and I quickly used Blizzagun and Firagun as reactions to stop the pair as they attacked. The Blizzard Lord blew icy breath at us, and we dodged as it came near us. The Volcanic Lord, on the other hand, shot fire at us, and I swiftly countered with a jet of water magic from my jaws. I roared as I shot the blast, and I felt my body glow a blue aura as it hit. That one shot, after several hits, finished off the Volcanic Lord. We turned our attention to the Blizzard Lord, and it was alone now. We rushed it, and sufficiently finished the job. Once finished, Pete glared at us, even more enraged than before.  
"You! You've messed with me for the last time! I'm gonna get you yet!" Pete shouted at us, and he fled. Once he was gone, Genie hugged Aladdin again.  
"Yeah! All right!" Genie said excitedly. He gave Aladdin a thumbs up, and Aladdin returned the gesture. Carpet flew in with Abu on it, and Iago flew by with the lamp in his beak. We ended up putting the lamp into a stone chest in the dungeon, where it would hopefully stay. Once finished, we met up with Jasmine outside at the Palace Gates.  
"I promise—you won't regret givin' me another chance. Honest!" Iago told us all.  
"Uhhh…Princess Jasmine, you sure that you want that pigeon in the coop?" Genie asked, looking doubtful.  
"Oh, I think Iago's shown that he means well," Jasmine replied.  
"Aw, sure. You're probably right," Genie agreed.  
"And how much trouble can one noisy bird cause?" I asked.  
"You might just have a point there, kid," Genie told us.  
"What happens next, Sora and Shadow?" Jasmine asked, turning to us.  
"Well, it was great seeing you all…but we still need to find Riku, Kurai, and the King," we replied. "We guess we'll be moving on."  
"I hope you find 'em," Genie told us.  
"Us, too," we said, and I looked away.  
"Hey, where's Aladdin?" Donald wondered suddenly.  
"He ran off toward town, looking for Abu," Jasmine told us. "But he should be back by now."  
"Al can't miss Sora and Shadow's big farewell party!" Genie gasped. "I'll have him back in a jiffy!" He spun around, and disappeared in a burst of magic.  
"Abu!" Aladdin's voice yelled and Abu ran in with a big red jewel in his arms. "Catch him!" Abu stopped and saw us all dive for him. We all four crashed onto the little monkey, making him drop the jewel. "He must've secretly stolen it from the Cave of Wonders."  
"Abu!" Donald snapped at Abu, and he took it from him, but then Donald became transfixed with the gem. "Wow!"  
"I guess some things are just hard to resist," Goofy remarked, and Donald shook his head, making him snap out of it.  
"Aw, who needs it!" Donald said, and pretended to throw it, but hid it behind his back instead. Abu pointed at it and jumped up and down, alerting us. "Oh…I guess it got stuck!" Suddenly, the jewel began to glow. "What?!"  
"Whoa!" everyone but Sora and I said, and the two of us unlocked the next gate. Aladdin turned to us.  
"Sora, Shadow…What is it?" he asked us.  
"We think it's time for us to go," Sora and I told him.  
"Will you be back?" Jasmine asked.  
"We will, we promise!" the two of us said. Aladdin gave us a thumbs up, and we left for the next world. As we traveled, I thought about how to tell Sora about my decision, and I couldn't come up with anything, not even WHEN I should tell him. Probably at the end of our journey, once it was over, then I would tell my friends. I could feel Sora's gaze on me as I was lost in my thoughts, and I glanced at him.  
"What's up?" he asked me. I sighed heavily, and he looked worried. "Shadow, we're supposed to be friends. Please tell me what's wrong."  
"Well…I've just been thinking about my home world, that's all," I mumbled. "I've been feeling something in my heart as of late, and I realized I'm worried about my family and my old friends. I…just don't know what I really want. Half of me says to stay with you guys, and the other half is telling me to go home. I'm totally torn!" I growled in frustration and shook my head, trying to clear it.  
"Shadow…" he murmured.  
"I don't expect you to understand," I told him. "You've only grown up in one place, and you successfully saved your home world when it was destroyed. My world was overtaken by the Heartless as well, but I didn't know what to do when I ended up with you in your world all those years ago. I know we've bonded, and I don't want to leave you guys, but…I just don't know what to do…"  
"Shadow, I know you'll choose the right thing to do, just don't feel you and Kurai owe anything to me and the others," Sora said wisely. I looked at him.  
"I know what to do, I just hope it's the right thing," I replied. "I want to take you, Kairi, and Riku to our world once this adventure is finished, and then have my friends and family decide for us. I just hope that whatever happens, I don't feel too horrible. I know it's going to be hard on every side…"  
"Don't worry about it!" Sora assured me. "I know that your friends and family have your best interest at heart. Besides, I'm excited now to meet your family and friends and see your world! It makes me want to finish this journey that much faster!"  
"Thanks, Sora," I murmured. "I didn't know when to tell you, so I'm glad that you asked me. Now I feel a little bit better."  
"Good. I'm happy for you, Shadow," he replied, and I jumped into his lap where he stroked my back, and I relished the feeling of my back being stroked. The gentle tug on my wings and the flick of my tail felt soothing. I rested my head, and we continued our way to the next world.


	13. Merry Halloween?

A/N: ROXY'S NUMBER FOR THE CHAPTER! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 13

Merry…Halloween? What's Going On Here?

We arrived in the next world, which turned out to be Halloween Town. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I were dressed in our Halloween looks, and we approached a scarecrow with a pumpkin for a head that held a sign that read, 'Halloween Town'.  
"Hey, this is Halloween Town, right?" Sora asked.  
"Well, it sure looks like Hallowee…Wha?" Donald said, and stopped in mid-sentence. We looked in the direction of the town where we saw what looked like orange Christmas lights hanging from the wall. Zero suddenly flew in, scaring Goofy, who then scared us with his wailing.  
"Hey, it's Zero!" I smiled, and reached out to him. "How've you been, boy?" He led the way into the town, the only sound coming from him being an occasional yip. We walked into town and saw a long launch pad, and we looked at it with interest.  
"What's that?" Sora wondered. I shrugged and out of nowhere, we heard the sound of bells in the air.  
"It's Jack!" Donald yelled to us, and pointed. Jack flew in on a trashcan sleigh that was being pulled by three skeletal reindeer. He stood up when he saw us.  
"Sora, Shadow, Donald, and Goofy!" Jack said in greeting. "Welcome back, and Merry Christmas!"  
"Merry Christmas? Don't you mean 'Happy Halloween'?" Sora and I said in confusion.  
"Of course," he replied. "Halloween greetings from Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King!" He made a scary face to us, and then looked like he felt weird. "Forgive me. I'm in a Christmas mood. You see, I'm running the show again this year—but I need Sandy Claws's blessing, so I'm off to Christmas Town."  
"'Sandy Claws'?" I repeated, puzzled.  
"I think he means Santa Claus," Goofy told me. Jack stood on the edge of the fountain.  
"Aren't these decorations wonderful?" he asked us eagerly. "This year Halloween Town's going to handle Christmas, too! But first! We have to visit Sally. She's working on something no self-respecting Santa Claus can do without. Come along—I'll show you!"  
"A Halloween Town Christmas…" Sora and I murmured. We all four looked around the town, and saw the guillotine, a jack in the box, a scary toy duck with teeth, and the reindeer, which sort of…cackled at us. Donald and Goofy shuddered violently at the sights. "Wanna go check it out?" They sighed heavily, and we followed Jack to Dr. Finkelstein's lab.  
"C'mon, hurry!" Jack called to us excitedly. In the Lab, Dr. Finkelstein was working on his latest experiment with the aid of Lock, Shock, and Barrel. The doctor opened his head and scratched his brain while Jack led us in with a gleeful expression on his face. "Hello, Doctor! Where's Sally?"  
"Can't you see…" the doctor said, and turned to face Jack. "that I'm in the middle of an experiment?" He wheeled himself over to the table that Lock, Shock, and Barrel were heading over to while they were carrying a part for the experiment. Sally entered the room, and the three tricksters started to complain.  
"Hey, this is way too heavy!" Lock whined.  
"Then let's toss it!" Shock suggested.  
"You do and you'll be sorry!" Dr. Finkelstein threatened them. "Now bring it over here."  
"Heave-ho!" they all three yelled, and threw the part onto the table. It sparked and pulsed with an electrical charge, and before it could explode, I ducked behind Sora. Sora and Jack covered their faces as it did, and the little group took off their masks and laughed as the table became covered in smoke. They quickly started to run, Barrel tripping and getting back up, and they put their masks on as they dashed past Sally.  
"Imbeciles!" the doctor growled angrily. "Now my experiment is ruined!" Jack turned his attention to Sally.  
"Sally! Did you finish it?" Jack asked her eagerly. "I want to show my good friends."  
"I'm sorry, Jack," she murmured. "I…I need a little bit more time."  
"Ohh…Well, that's all right. Just as long as it's ready for Christmas!" Jack told her. He patted her shoulder and started to leave.  
"But…Jack…" she said quietly.  
"I'd best be off. I've got to go get Sandy Claws, right away! Wonderful to see you again. Bye for now!" Jack told us, and he went outside.  
"Go get Santa Claus?" Sora said to himself, and we started to think about something.  
"Please, Sora and Shadow. I'm afraid something terrible will happen if Jack goes through with this," she told us.  
"You can say that again!" Donald agreed.  
"Sora, Shadow?" Goofy said, trying to snap us out of it. Jack returned, and that's when we snapped out of it.  
"Are those strange-looking fellows in the town square with you?" he asked the four of us.  
"Huh? What 'fellows'?" I said to him, puzzled.  
"You know, the ones who wanted to spoil Halloween AND Christmas? What are they called again…Heartless?" Jack told us.  
"They're definitely not with us. But Donald, Goofy, Shadow, and I can get rid of them for you! And then we can go see Santa!" Sora replied. Donald tapped his foot while I smacked my forehead and groaned. The brunette looked at Donald, and corrected himself. "But first, the Heartless!" We left the Lab and saw outside were greeted by the sight of the Mayor shouting at several Wight Knight Heartless through his megaphone.  
"Now hear this, you…you things! Leave Halloween Town at once…by order of the Mayor! Jack? Where are you? I'm only an elected official—I can't handle this by myself." Jack walked over to him, and the Mayor's head rotated to see him. "Jack!"  
"We're on it!" Sora and I said, and we fought the Heartless, defeating them quite easily.  
"How is Sandy Claws supposed to relax with all this going on?" Jack wondered. "That's it, fellows! Sandy Claws needs bodyguards. Are you up to the task?"  
"Us?" Donald said, surprised.  
"Yeah," Sora and I replied. Jack prepared us while in the Town Square.  
"All right, bodyguards! Christmas Town is this way! The doorway is in the woods just past the Graveyard!" he informed us, looking very excited. We passed through the Graveyard, and walked into the Hinterlands. The woods we were at had some doors with different shapes on them, for example, there was a heart in one, a turkey shape in another, and so on. We saw a tree at the end with a Christmas tree shape on it, and I assumed that was the door we were to go through. Jack stood next to it as we approached.  
"Here it is!" he declared. "The door to Christmas Town. The spooks of Halloween Town can get so tiresome year after year. I wanted something new. And I found this! Beyond this door is a world filled with wonders…the likes of which you've never seen! Everything was so fresh and exciting!"  
"C'mon! Just open it!" Sora said, getting anxious from his excitement. He looked so eager; I thought he would burst from his happiness, making me chuckle. Jack opened the door, and Sora and I jumped in first. Donald and Goofy looked after us, watching us fall. They looked at each other, and then jumped in after us. We ended up being transported to Christmas Town, and of course, Sora and I landed first. We flew out of the tree on Yuletide Hill, and Donald and Goofy crashed onto us. I squeezed myself out, and Sora pushed them off to look at the town below.  
"Cooool!" Sora breathed in amazement.  
"Wow!" Donald said, and I felt some bliss as well. Jack appeared behind us. "So where's Santa?"  
"In his workshop," Jack replied, pointing. "Shall we?" We walked into Candy Cane Lane, and before we could even move, Heartless appeared.  
"Here, too?!" Sora gasped.  
"En garde, loyal bodyguards!" Jack called to us. We fought and defeated the Heartless, and it especially helped using Jack's Limit with me and Sora, called Applause, Applause. That was a great Limit to use on swarms of Heartless.  
"Christmas is in big trouble!" Donald said worriedly.  
"Gawrsh, we can't let anything bad happen to Christmas," Goofy chimed in. Donald, Sora, and I nodded in agreement. Jack pointed to the workshop.  
"That's where Sandy Claws lives," he told us. We entered Santa's House where Mr. Claus was looking over his list. There were a few elves walking about here and there.  
"Whoa!" Sora and Donald breathed when they saw him. I watched from Sora's shoulder.  
"Well, hello everyone," he said kindly. "Did you come to see if you're on my 'nice' list?" We approached him somewhat slowly. "Your names?" he asked me and Sora.  
"Um, Sora and Shadow, sir," Sora said nervously. He looked to me and smiled. I smiled slightly and nodded back; I wasn't much of a Christmas person, with the exception of being able to spend some blissful time periods with my friends. In my home world, we didn't have any holidays, with the exception of the anniversary of when my kind won the war against my arch enemy, Ishu. That dragon had tried to kill me on several occasions, and had even attempted to invade the human world. But anyway, Santa looked at Sora seriously.  
"Let's see…Sora…Here you are. Well, according to my list, Sora…seven years ago you told everyone you did not believe in Santa Claus…Oh, that is unfortunate." Sora grasped the sides of his head in disbelief; he must've forgotten about that one. I certainly hadn't, and I laughed as Sora looked at me with an upset expression on his face.  
"How about Donald and Goofy?" Donald asked Santa. The old man nodded to him, and Donald jumped up excitedly. "Oh, boy!"  
"Am I on your list, too, by any chance?" Jack asked. "It's me, Jack!"  
"Jack Skellington?!" Santa gasped. Suddenly, we heard a crash come from the Toy Factory. Santa got up and walked to the door. "What sort of trouble did you bring this time?"  
"This time?" I repeated to Jack in bewilderment.  
"It's a long story!" Jack said simply. We followed Santa into the Factory. We saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel swing a clamp through a window, and Jack gasped.  
"It's Lock, Shock, and Barrel!" Jack said.  
"Not those three…" Santa Claus muttered.  
"I assure you, they're not with us," Jack told him.  
"Well, whatever the case, they've been quite naughty," Santa replied. "Catch them and bring them back here. They're going to get a lecture." He started to walk back into his house.  
"Uh…Mr. Claws? I wanted to talk to you about Christmas first," Jack said hesitantly. Santa paused and turned slightly to look at him.  
"It'll have to wait. I need to see how things are progressing in my workshop," he said impatiently. He continued to walk away.  
"C'mon, Jack—let's catch those little pranksters," I told him.  
"Oh, all right, then," Jack agreed. We left Santa's House and saw footprints that led all the way up to Yuletide Hill, and back to Halloween Town. We followed the footprints to the Graveyard, and then they headed in the direction of Curly Hill. Once we entered the gate leading to Curly Hill, we saw the Prison Keeper Heartless and the trio of tricksters together. The three jumped into the cage of the Heartless, and it closed the door with a bony finger.  
"There they are!" Sora shouted to the others as they caught up to us. We quickly fought the Heartless, destroying it, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel gathered by the gate.  
"Ah ha ha ha!" Barrel laughed.  
"That was fun!" Lock agreed.  
"Let's go see if Mr. Oogie's ready!" Shock squealed eagerly, and the three little runts ran off.  
"Oogie?!" Jack gasped.  
"Isn't he the one who tried to take over Halloween Town before?" Sora asked, and I remembered that bag of bugs.  
"That's him," Jack confirmed. "Fellows, I hope you're ready for trouble…"  
"Don't we have enough trouble already?" Goofy pointed out. We all nodded, and left for the Graveyard, where Sally ran out of the forest.  
"What's wrong, Sally?" Jack asked her.  
"Jack! Oogie's kidnapped Santa Claus!" she told him urgently.  
"Oh, no!" Jack gasped.  
"And he's headed to Christmas Town!" she added.  
"C'mon Jack—let's hurry!" I said, and we quickly ran through the Hinterlands, making our way through the door to the edge of Christmas Town. We saw a column of smoke rising from Santa's House, and Donald reacted first.  
"That's Santa's House!" he said, once again pointing out the obvious and making me want to smack him. We ran down to the house, getting rid of the Heartless that tried to get in our way. Once in the house, we rushed into the Toy Factory, where Oogie revealed himself laughing at us. He jumped down off the ledge and grabbed Sally, then released her and turned around to face us.  
"Jack Skellington!" he said, and it sounded like he was declaring it.  
"Oogie!" Jack gasped.  
"You and I have a score to settle, Jack! Same goes for your little sidekicks!" he said tauntingly.  
"What are you planning to do with Sandy Claws?" Jack demanded. While he spoke, I spotted Sally sneaking around one of the conveyor belts while holding one of her legs.  
"Who? Sandy Claws? I don't know what you're talking about!" Oogie said, and scratched his head in confusion. He jumped down to the conveyor belt where Santa was tied up and gagged. "And why is this roly-poly red guy here? Time to go, grandpa!" He motioned with his arms, and got Santa up. I heard Sally gasp, and Oogie laughed as he started to lead Santa away. She threw her leg that she was holding to Oogie, and he became distracted. While he was, Santa tugged himself away from Oogie, and ran over to Sally.  
"Mr. Santa Claus!" Sally called to him as he ran to her. Oogie became livid and tried to storm after them, but we beat him to it.  
We blocked his path, and he growled, "Why, you…" He ran back and into the conveyor, and we ran onto the conveyor belt as Oogie came down on a scaffold-like contraption. He pressed a button and laughed as the conveyor belts started moving and spikes appeared at the other end, where we were headed.  
"Stop!" Donald yelled at him, and ran up the center belt and into the conveyor. He reappeared on the left side, looking confused. "Huh?" He ran back into the conveyor, and ended up on the center belt again with us. "Not again!" We fought Oogie, making him drop down by knocking presents up at him and eventually weighing him down. Once he hit the belt, we beat the living crap out of him. Once he was beaten, his stitching started to come undone in one spot, making bugs spill out. He covered it, and sighed with temporary relief when it stopped. Another side started to rip, and he wailed helplessly as the bugs poured out from him and he disappeared. A stray insect scurried past Donald, and he squished it with his foot. Sora and I sighed in relief when we realized it was over for Oogie once and for all.  
"All right, Christmas is safe again!" Sora cheered.  
"Perfect! I'd better get down to business!" Jack said excitedly.  
"Leave that to Santa!" Donald told him firmly.  
"Yup, you oughta stick to Halloween and spooky stuff!" Goofy agreed.  
"Jack?" Sally murmured, and she walked over with his outfit. We were outside by now, thankfully. I wasn't used to such bright, cheery colors. I was more used to forest colors and things. "Here, it's done."  
"Wonderful!" Jack said eagerly. "Why, I love it! Thank you, Sally!"  
"Jack…Do you really have to do this?" she asked him quietly. Jack put on his new outfit.  
"But I make a splendid Sandy Claws!" he replied. Santa walked over at that moment.  
"Listen here, Jack Skellington. You saved me, and Christmas as well. And for that, I'm very grateful. But please promise me you won't cause any more trouble! And about that suit!" Jack spun around, showing off his Santa Claus suit. "Don't even think about taking over for me again!"  
"I just thought you could use a little help this year, Mr. Claws," Jack explained. "You must be exhausted from all the preparations. And—I wouldn't mind a second chance to get this Christmas thing right."  
"Yes, being Santa Claus can be tiring. But let me tell you something, Jack. Seeing the happy faces of little children when they discover the presents I've brought them makes it all worthwhile, year after year. And you, Jack—you love to make them gasp and see them shiver with fright. What if someone tried to take all of that away from you?" Jack looked down and scratched his head. "We both have very important jobs to do, Jack. Mine is to take care of Christmas, and yours is to take care of Halloween. So we each have to do the very best we can. After all, you're the face of Halloween—Mr. Jack Skellington! The Pumpkin King! The Knight of Nightmares! And even though you're fascinated by Christmas, Jack…Halloween is your true specialty. Don't you see? Children rely on both of us to do our jobs. Halloween needs your attention…and I know Christmas needs mine—urgently." He turned around.  
"You're right!" Jack realized. "I am the master of terror! And if Halloween has become too routine, all I have to do is think of something new that'll really make them scream!" That Mayor started to run toward Jack from Yuletide Hill then.  
"Jack! Oh, Jack! I've been looking for you everywhere!" he said. "We must go over the plans for next Halloween! I can't do a thing without your approval!"  
"So true," Jack agreed.  
"Good luck, Jack Skellington," Santa said. Jack walked away with the Mayor, looking excited about the new ideas for Halloween.  
"Well, there he goes," Sora said.  
"Yes, and I've got lots of names to check and preparations to finish!" Santa remembered. Suddenly, Jack's outfit began to glow brightly.  
"Jack, this is no time for joking!" the Mayor snapped at him.  
"What's this? Perhaps a bit too festive for our Halloween needs," Jack said curiously. Sora used his Keyblade and I used my light to open another gateway.  
"We better get going," Sora and I said.  
"Before you do, Sora…I believe there's a friend of yours…who—if I recall correctly—was the one who told you there's no such thing as Santa Claus?" Santa asked Sora.  
"Oh yeah…He did say that," Sora murmured.  
"Be sure to give him my very best wishes," Santa told him.  
"We will, but…Do you know where we can find Riku and Kurai?" Sora and I asked.  
"No…but don't give up!" Santa replied. "Remember, if you believe in Riku and Kurai, you will find them. Just as you found me."  
"Right!" Sora and I said, and we looked at each other with a smile before taking off to the next world. We traveled to the next world in silence, each of us absorbed in our own thoughts. We would soon learn that no matter what happens, you'll always have true friends.


	14. Pride Of The Lion!

A/N: My favorite world of all time! YUSH! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 14

Pride Of The Lion! Hang On, Twilight Town Is Back?!

When we arrived in the next world, I felt different. I looked at myself, and realized I had turned into a lion cub. I looked at my friends, and realized that Sora had become a lion cub, too. Donald was now a bird, and Goofy had turned into a turtle. They looked themselves over with excitement. I felt excited, too; I hadn't used my shape-shifting abilities in a long time, so it felt good to change things up a bit. Sora was now a dark brown lion cub with spiked hair like his human form and still wore his crown necklace; while I was pitch black with glossy, smooth fur that appeared to have layered stripes to like my armor, and piercing black eyes.  
"Hey! Check us out!" Sora said excitedly. We looked around, and realized our surroundings weren't nearly as great as the initial feelings of our new forms. "This place is kinda creepy, though." I nodded rapidly in agreement.  
"Uh-huh," Donald agreed. We quickly realized that we were surrounded by what looked to me like…hyenas. I had never seen a real hyena before, but I'd heard them while out at night in my old home in the Dragon Realms. They would stalk you, laughing those high-pitched laughs of theirs, and then, as soon as they realized your guard was down, they would strike. But anyway, one of them laughed and then snarled, and it sounded just as I had remembered.  
"Heartless?" Sora guessed, looking around with a panicked expression.  
"I dunno, Sora. I get the feelin' they might live here," Goofy replied.  
"Don't mind us! Just passing through. We won't be any trouble," Donald said, trying to pacify them.  
"Yeah, that's right!" Sora chimed in, and I groaned inwardly. One of the hyenas started to circle us with her two friends, and they all had the glint in their eyes of hunger.  
"Don't be silly. We'd love you to stick around for lunch," she told us.  
"Um…we didn't bring anything to eat," Sora replied, obviously not taking the hint.  
"That's not gonna be a problem!" the next hyena laughed.  
"Gawrsh, Sora—I think WE'RE the lunch!" Goofy finally said, and Sora understood then. The third hyena laughed and licked his lips hungrily. Donald cried out in terror, and we each split off from each other. Sora tried to run, but quickly tripped over his new paws. He wasn't used to getting around on all fours. I turned and looked to my friend in distress as one of the hyenas approached him.  
"Going somewhere?" he taunted, and I got ready to pounce. The others had cornered Donald and Goofy, but before anyone could do a thing, we all heard the sound of a lion's roar. "Man, that Scar's got the worst timing," the hyena standing over Sora growled irritably.  
"Just let him roar," the first hyena told him.  
"Nah, we better go see what he wants," the second one told her. "Sounds like he's grumpy enough already."  
"Fine," the first one sighed. The hyenas all ran off, leaving us to recover from the shock.  
"I dunno what that was about, but I'm glad it's over!" Sora said, and Donald and Goofy sighed with relief. "Everything's harder on four legs…"  
"Now you know how I feel!" I teased, and he laughed.  
"Better start practicing!" Donald told him.  
"I've got a trick for it. Here, let me show you," I smiled. Once Sora and the others had gotten used to their new animal forms, we left the Gorge and walked out into the Elephant Graveyard. Out of nowhere, though we saw a lioness run away from some Living Bone Heartless.  
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked my friends.  
"Heartless?!" Donald gasped.  
"What do we do?" Goofy wondered. Sora and I ran over to the lioness, and quickly blocked the path between the Heartless and her.  
"Stay back!" Sora warned her. We quickly fought and beat the Heartless, and then turned to the lioness. "Definitely Heartless." We soon learned the name of the lioness, and her name was Nala.  
"Thank you. You really saved me," she told us gratefully.  
"We're just glad you're okay," Goofy replied.  
"Did you see any other Heartless around here?" I asked her.  
"Heartless…Is that what they're called?" she asked. "I don't know if there are any others…I don't usually hunt outside the Pride Lands." I nodded when I understood about the hunting part. I would hunt all the time in my own world, but never in another clan's territory.  
"Pride Lands?" Donald repeated.  
"Hey, do you know if a couple of guys named Riku and Kurai are there? Or some bad guys in black hoods? Or maybe this really big bully named Pete?" Sora asked, walking closer to her. She shook her head, and the brunette and I sighed. "Oh well, we might as well go take a look, anyway."  
"Wait—the Pride Lands are dangerous," she warned us. "Scar and the hyenas have made things unbearable for everyone. There's no food left. They've driven off the prey. We're about to starve."  
"We can handle a little danger," I assured her. "You just saw us beat those Heartless, didn't you?"  
"I think you're right…You could be just what the kingdom needs. Maybe you can help us," she said, and looked at Sora. I sighed to myself in relief; I was already a leader in my own world, so I didn't need to become one in another.  
"Ya mean take on this Scar guy and all those hyenas?" Goofy asked for clarification.  
"Scar?" Donald repeated, confused.  
"He took over when our last king, Mufasa, died," she explained.  
"So you're saying this guy is your king," Sora murmured. "You want us to take down your king?" She nodded in confirmation, and Sora and I hopped back over to Donald and Goofy.  
"Wait just a minute. We just can't go knocking kings off their thrones," Sora told them. "Then again, if they see I'm stronger than their king, maybe they'll ask me to be their next king!"  
"Sora…" Goofy murmured in warning.  
"I'd have to refuse, or course," Sora added with a chuckle. "Still, I'd like to see the Pride Lands, so you guys don't mind lending 'em a paw, do you?" Sora and I looked at each other in agreement, and hopped back over to Nala.  
"Uh-oh, there he goes again…" Donald muttered. I shot him a sharp glance over my shoulder, and he stopped. Once we had finished speaking with Nala, she nodded and left.  
"She's gonna go on ahead and tell the other lionesses," Sora explained to our friends. "We're supposed to meet her at a place called Pride Rock." We all nodded in agreement for the plan, and ran across the Savannah to get to Pride Rock. Once we got there, Nala walked over to us with a mandrill walking alongside her.  
"That's him," she told the mandrill, and he began to inspect Sora closely.  
"Uh…what?" Sora said, confused. The mandrill looked over to Donald and Goofy, and a few lionesses awoke. They looked up, watching us curiously. He walked back over to Nala, whispered something in her ear, and then walked away. "What is it?"  
"I told Rafiki that you might be able to help us force Scar and the hyenas out of the Pride Lands," she explained. "But he says it won't work. You see, whoever saves the Pride Lands will be our next king…and he has to have the right qualities."  
"Meaning…" Sora said, not getting it. I internally groaned at his naivety.  
"I think she means you're not cut out for the job, Sora," Goofy told him, and Sora sighed.  
"I'm sorry you came all this way," she apologized.  
"Hey, no—it's okay," I assured her, shrugging my shoulders.  
"You'd better go before Scar finds out you're here," she added softly. "I'm really sorry." We heeded her words and tried to leave, but Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, the hyenas who almost got to us when we first arrived here, cut us off before we could.  
"Hey, a snack," Banzai said.  
"Snack? Nah, we got us a three-course meal," Shenzi corrected him. Ed laughed and growled, but there was a sudden roar from the rocks behind us. We all looked and saw a lean, cruel-looking lion standing on the rocks. His deep red fur and black mane showed he was the king of the pride, but the scar covering his eye stood out.  
"Look at that, here comes Scar—the king," Banzai announced. Sora and I took notice of the fat, ugly lion standing next to Scar.  
"And Pete!" the brunette gasped. Scar ran down the rock with expertise, but when Pete tried to…he fell down the rocks due to his fat. Sora and I looked at him pitifully as he got back up. I couldn't help but snigger, though.  
"My back…" he muttered.  
"What are you doing here?!" Sora demanded.  
"Aw, the cute li'l kitty's worried about me. If I were you, I'd be more worried about my friends!" he told us, and we looked and saw Donald and Goofy being surrounded by hyenas.  
"Sora, Shadow!" Donald wailed helplessly.  
"We're surrounded!" Goofy cried out. I felt the muscles in my legs start to coil, but I forced myself to relax and wait.  
"Go on, ladies—you've got some hunting to do," Scar told the lionesses.  
"The herds have moved on, Scar. We can't hunt in a land with no prey," Nala snapped at him.  
"No prey? Then what do you call this?" Scar replied.  
"We're not prey!" I snarled.  
"Oh. Nice and fresh, too," Scar remarked.  
"Well, they're all yours, Scar," Pete told him. He left, and Scar started to move in to try for the kill, but Nala pounced on him. Sora gasped in shock.  
"Run!" she ordered us, and we quickly took her advice, running down the hill while evading hyenas. Nala abandoned Scar and ran ahead of us. "Follow me!" she ordered. We lost the hyenas in the Savannah, and we regrouped there. "I'm sorry I got you involved in this."  
"It's no big deal," Sora assured her. I almost laughed at that, but held it in.  
"Aw, it's not your fault. Sora wouldn't be a good king," Donald said teasingly.  
"Hey! I had to give it a try, right?" Sora retorted.  
"So you DID want to be king!" Goofy said, catching him in his own words.  
"Well…you know…Uh, Nala, isn't there anybody else who could be king?" Sora asked her, quickly changing the subject. I quickly ducked my head, hoping she wouldn't try to offer me.  
"There was…but he died…when he was just a cub," she told us. "He was the son of our last king, Mufasa. If only Simba were here…" I looked up at her when she said his name.  
"Simba?! But Simba's just fine! He was fighting right beside us not that long ago," I told her.  
"You mean Simba's alive?! But where is he?" she demanded.  
"That…we don't know," I answered, and she sighed.  
"Still…Simba's alive! I can't believe it…Please—tell me more about him," she begged.  
"Of course!" Sora replied, and we explained as we made our way to a wide canyon. Once there, Sora looked down the edge nervously, and I felt eager to show my new jumping skills off to my friends. Nala had the idea first, though, and she backed up, and then raced over to the edge, launching herself over to the other side. She landed with a slight skid, and we looked at her in amazement.  
"Wow!" we all breathed. Sora looked down to the bottom again, and backed up slightly.  
"What's wrong?" she called to him.  
"We're never gonna make it!" he shouted back.  
"I guess Rafiki was right," she murmured to herself. I was the only one who had heard her clearly, because Sora called out to her, wondering what she had said. "Never mind. It's not important. Here, I'll show you how. You can do it!" she called back in reassurance. Once we had all crossed, Sora and I learned the 'Dash' ability, and we were able to run even faster now. Sora had made an impressive leap, but now it was my turn. I leapt straight from the edge without backing up, and cleared the gap. They looked at me, impressed, all except for Sora, who rolled his eyes. I gently shoved his shoulder with my paw, and he laughed. Soon, we made our way to the end of Wildebeest Valley, and Nala started to explain to us what had happened to make them think that Simba was dead.  
"When Simba's father, King Mufasa, died, we were told that Simba died alongside him," she told us.  
"Who told you that?" I asked curiously, my ears twitching.  
"Scar," she replied, looking down. Out of nowhere, Rafiki ran over to the rocks along the edge of the valley.  
"It is time," he declared. Nala looked ahead down the path excitedly.  
"That must be Simba! Sora, Shadow! Hurry!" she cried out, and ran ahead.  
"Wait up!" Sora and I called out after her. We ran after her through the Wastelands, and ended up in a jungle. We walked through and found an oasis at the end, and there were several Aerial Knocker Heartless surrounding Simba, who was standing on a log. He roared viciously, and they vanished into darkness out of fear. We ran over to him.  
"Simba!" Sora and I yelled. He tensed up, crouching into a defensive stance. We quickly stopped in our tracks, getting a slight bit nervous. "I-it's us—Sora and Shadow! Donald and Goofy are here, too." He walked closer to us, and saw the resemblance, and then recognized us.  
"Sora! Shadow! Donald! Goofy!" he cried out happily. He pounced on Sora, overjoyed, and rubbed his face on Sora's stomach while Donald, Goofy, and I laughed. "What happened to you?" Suddenly, screams sounded out in the Jungle.  
"Help! Simba! Heeelp!" one of the voices screamed.  
"She's gonna eat us!" the other wailed.  
"Timon? Pumbaa?!" he called out. "Something must have happened in the jungle! I have to go help my friends!" He sped off into the brush, and we turned to follow.  
"Okay, we'll back you up!" I said. We ran after to help him, and saw Simba leap at Nala as she pounced at a meerkat and warthog that were huddled together from fear. We watched in shock as the pair fought.  
"Simba! Wait!" Sora yelled to him.  
"Stop!" Donald shrieked.  
"It's Nala! Don't you recognize her?" I shouted. He charged at her, causing them to roll, and Nala ended up on top, pinning him to the ground.  
"Nala?" he gasped. She got off of him, and looked him over in confusion. "It's me, Simba!"  
"Simba!" she cried out happily once it registered. They bumped heads together, and walked in circles around each other. "You are alive!"  
"Hey! What's goin' on here?!" the little meerkat demanded. He and his companion turned around and saw us, and screamed, running away in terror. The meerkat hid behind Simba's leg.  
"Don't worry. They're all friends of mine," Simba assured him.  
"So that means…nobody's to eat anybody else for lunch, right?" he asked us, and Donald, Sora, and I nodded, confirming his theory. The warthog, on the other hand, was quivering, still scared.  
"Are you sure they don't wanna eat me like I'm some kind of pig?!" he demanded.  
"We won't…but you are a pig, right?" Sora asked. The warthog got up and whirled around.  
"Call me Mr. Pig!" he snapped at us, and we all started to laugh. Once we sobered up, Simba lowered his head to look at the meerkat.  
"Could you guys excuse us for a few minutes?" he asked.  
"Why am I not surprised?" the meerkat replied. Simba and Nala walked off to the oasis together, and the rest of us were left to get to know each other. We learned the meerkat was named Timon, and the warthog was Pumbaa. They soon taught us a little motto of theirs, which we started to say as we walked back into the oasis after a while. We swung our heads back and forth with each step into the oasis.  
"Hakuna!" Timon started.  
"Matata!" the rest of us finished.  
"Hakuna!"

"Matata!" As we walked in, however, Nala walked past us, looking upset.  
"He's not the Simba I remember. Something about hakuna matata…" Simba left shortly afterwards.  
That night, he gazed up into the night sky. I was as well,, hiding in the brush, not focusing on what he said. I heard, but it didn't register. I was too busy thinking about my old home, and my friends and family. I soon started to listen in, intrigued by his thoughts.  
"My father's dead. And it's because of me…It's my fault. I can't go back…It won't change anything," he said to himself. He looked into the stars. "Father…are you there?" Suddenly, several clouds swirled within the night sky, and they took the shape of another lion, who I assumed was Mufasa. He shone with a holy light, and I watched in shock from where I was hidden, as did Simba.  
"Simba…you have forgotten who you are," Mufasa told him. "You must take your place in the Circle of Life."  
"How can I go back? I'm not who I used to be," Simba replied.  
"Remember who you are," his father answered simply, and the clouds rolled away as Mufasa disappeared. Simba took a moment to gaze at the sky, and he slightly turned.  
"You can all come out now," he told us, and we came out from hiding. I felt like Mufasa's words had really hit home for me, and I almost started to cry. I held it in, though. "I'm going back to face my past. I could use your help."  
"He really is a king…" Timon murmured in shock. The morning sun shone behind him, and we left for the savannah. Simba looked over the barren ground and gasped in horror. "Wait a minute. We're gonna fight your uncle for THIS?" Timon demanded in disbelief.  
"Yes, Timon. This is my home," Simba replied calmly. We snuck onto Pride Rock where Scar was looking over things. Most of the lionesses were sleeping. Scar looked, and saw Simba standing on the rocks above him, and the golden lion leapt down as Scar gasped.  
"Simba! You're…alive!" Scar breathed, looking a bit panicked.  
"This kingdom doesn't belong to you," Simba said evenly.  
"Simba's the rightful king," Nala added. Simba stepped forward, pressing Scar back.  
"The choice is yours, Scar. Either step down or fight," Simba told him.  
"Must this all end in violence? I'd hate to be responsible for the death of a family member, Simba…" he replied. Simba bared his fangs.  
"I've put the past behind me," he snapped at his uncle.  
"But what about your faithful subjects? Have they?" Scar asked, tormenting Simba. I bared my full set of sharp teeth at his words.  
"Simba, what's he talking about?" Nala asked her childhood friend, confused.  
"Go on. Tell them who's responsible for Mufasa's death!" Scar ordered Simba while circling around him.  
"I am," Simba breathed. Scar pressed forward onto Simba, pushing him back to the edge of the rock. Simba was slowly backing up to his end.  
"He admits it! Murderer! If it weren't for you, Mufasa would still be alive. Do you deny it?" Scar taunted.  
"No! But it was an accident!" Simba protested.  
"You're in trouble again. But this time, Daddy isn't here to save you. And now everyone knows why!" Scar growled. Simba tripped at the edge of Pride Rock and started to fall, but caught himself and clung on by his forelegs. "Now this looks familiar. I think I've seen this before. Oh, yes! I remember. This is just the way your father looked…before he died." Scar dug his claws deeply into his nephew's front paws. "And here's my little secret…I killed Mufasa." Suddenly, Simba shot up the ledge, tackling Scar and pinning him to the ground.  
"Murderer! Tell them the truth!" Simba snarled at Scar, his paw on Scar's throat.  
"All right. All right. I did it," Scar hissed.  
"Louder!" Simba ordered.  
"I…killed…Mufasa!" Scar shouted, and we all heard him that time. Suddenly, Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed ran out from the King's Den and attacked Simba while Scar fled into the den. Sora and I raced over, blocking off the hyena's path from Simba.  
"Simba! You get Scar! We'll handle these guys!" my friend and I told him. Simba nodded and ran after Scar as the hyenas surrounded us. Timon and Pumbaa charged in at that moment, knocking hyenas everywhere.  
"'Scuse me! Pardon me! Comin' through!" Timon yelled as they charged the hyenas. He hopped off from Pumbaa's back and they stood firmly. Then they realized that the hyenas were all glaring at them, so they fled to the King's Den. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I chased after them in hot pursuit. We fought off the hyenas while protecting Timon and Pumbaa, and once beaten, they all fled from the cave.  
"Where's Simba?" Sora asked.  
"He went up there," Nala told us, walking in. We ran up to the peak, and found Simba and Scar circling each other, waiting for the right moment to attack.  
"Simba!" Donald cried out, and tried to go to his aid, but I held up my paw, stopping him.  
"This is his fight, Donald," I told him. The air was thick with tension as the two lions stared each other down. The pair reared and Simba clawed Scar, but the older lion clawed him back, sending him flying back and landing on the ground hard. Scar pounced at Simba, but before he could hit him, the golden lion kicked out with his hind legs, sending Scar flying over the edge of the cliff.  
"You're okay!" Sora sighed with relief. Pete suddenly appeared, and he had something to tell us, judging by the look on his face.  
"Aw, that was just a sneak preview! 'Cause this ain't over—not by a long shot!" Pete told us, and pointed his paw to the cliff where Scar had fallen, where a paw suddenly gripped the edge. "Anger and jealousy turned the king of Pride Rock into a Heartless! Oh, your kingdom's gonna rise again…" Scar climbed back onto the Peak. "But this time, as the Pride Lands of Darkness!"  
"That's what you think!" Simba retorted, and we fought the battle against Scar, thanks to Sora's newest Keyblade, the Circle of Life. Sora, Simba, and I even used his Limit: Wild Cat. We used the beginning move to create a powerful shock wave of rocks and stones that stabbed into Scar, sending him flying. Once we began the next set, it was powerful; using a series of slashes from our claws, we slashed Scar repeatedly, delivering some major damage. And then came the finisher: a powerful roar that sent even more powerful shock waves through the rock and air, and we continued the fight against Scar. He was more powerful, I will admit, but we proved to be stronger. It was a gruesome fight, and we came out the victors.  
Later, we all gathered around the base of Pride Rock as Simba ascended the promontory. As he reached it, he let loose a powerful roar, to which the lionesses responded by roaring as well. Mufasa's image appeared in the clouds once more, and a ray of sunlight shone down on the new king of Pride Rock. As it shone, it released a beam of light, which in turn allowed me and Sora unlock the next gateway.  
"Hey, what's with the light show?" Timon said, confused.  
"We have to say goodbye for a little while," Sora answered.  
"I'll go tell Simba," Pumbaa told us, but Goofy stopped him.  
"Aw, he's prob'ly busy. Just tell him we'll be back soon," he told the pair.  
"Oh that's right—he's king now," Timon realized. "He's so busy that he'll prob'ly forget his two best buddies."  
"Well, you always got hakuna matata, right?" Sora pointed out.  
"Guess so…" Pumbaa said hesitantly.  
"Whaddya mean, 'guess so'?! What if he forgets to tell the carnivores who we are? One look at you, and you're a pig roast," Timon said in panic.  
"That's MISTER Pig Roast," Donald corrected.  
"Same thing!" Pumbaa yelped, now panicking as well. "And I'm not sticking around to be anybody's pork dinner!" He ran off wildly.  
"Pumbaa!" Timon yelled after him.  
"You can never forget your true buddies," Sora and I murmured, and looked at one another with a smile. We left the Pride Lands, and when we got back onto the Gummi Ship, we saw that Twilight Town had returned to the map. We landed there, and when we got to the Tram Commons, we saw Vivi run right past us.  
"H-help! The sandlot! It's Seifer! Somebody please help us!" he screamed as he ran by. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I looked at each other. Thankfully, we were back to our old selves.  
"Sounds like we've got trouble!" Sora said, and I nodded from his shoulder. We ran to the Sandlot, where Seifer, Rai, and Fuu were collapsed on the ground. Seifer tried to stand, but couldn't. We ran over as the Dusks started to close in.  
"We'll take it form here!" I growled, and we fought off the Nobodies. Once finished, we heard someone clapping behind us.  
"Impressive," he told us. We looked, and saw a cloaked man standing behind us. "By the way, have you seen a man named Axel? I expect he's here somewhere."  
"Like we care," I spat, and Sora readied his Keyblade as I let a deep growl rumble through my chest.  
"You see, Axel's no longer acting in our best interest," he informed us.  
"Is he with the Organization, too?" Goofy inquired.  
"Yes."  
"You havin' a fight?" Donald asked.  
"Not a very organized Organization…" Sora muttered. The man pointed at us in warning.  
"Don't let your guard down. Axel will stop at nothing to turn you into a Heartless," he warned us.  
"Gee, thanks for looking out for us, mister," Sora and I said sarcastically. "But we're sure we can take care of ourselves just fine."  
"Glad to hear it. Axel aside, it would break our hearts to hear something happened to you," he said, and I detected the hint of sarcasm in his tone.  
"Hearts? You don't have any hearts!" Donald pointed out.  
"True, we don't have hearts," he said, and removed his hood, revealing long blue hair and an X-shaped scar on his face. "But we remember what it was like. That's what makes us special." A portal that led to darkness appeared behind him.  
"Whaddya mean?" Goofy asked.  
"We know very well how to injure a heart. Sora, Shadow, you just keep on fighting those Heartless," he told us.  
"Let's jump in after him!" Sora and I murmured to Donald.  
"How come?" Donald whispered back.  
"We're not sure, but maybe he'll lead us back to the Organization's world," the brunette muttered in reply.  
"Don't be reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku and Kurai?" he said vaguely, and we gasped.  
"What?!" Sora and I demanded. Instead of answering, he bowed out and disappeared into the dark portal. "Hey wait! …What did he mean, end up like Riku and Kurai?"  
"Hey, how 'bout you get out of my town now? You've caused enough trouble," Seifer snapped at us.  
"Riku…Kurai…" Sora and I murmured, and I whimpered slightly.  
"Have it your way!" Donald yelled at him. "C'mon, guys."  
"Hold it!" Seifer added.  
"Make up your mind!" Donald snapped at him impatiently. Seifer held up a trophy with four crystals on it.  
"This goes to the strongest guy in Twilight Town," he informed us. Sora pointed at himself questioningly.  
"Thanks, but…we don't really need it," Sora told him. Seifer rushed up to Goofy and thrust it into his arms.  
"Whoa!" Goofy gasped as he got it. Seifer smirked at me and Sora as he, Rai, and Fuu left. Pence came running over to us as when they left.  
"Oh, Sora and Shadow!" he gasped.  
"Um…Pence, right?" Sora guessed.  
"Do you know a girl named Kairi?" he panted.  
"K….Kairi?! We sure do!" we yelped.  
"Then you better come to the station!" he told us. We all ran as fast as we could to the station, but I had to hang back a bit for them to be able to keep up. When we got there, Hayner and Olette came running over.  
"He-ey!" Hayner called to us in greeting.  
"Hey, so how do you guys know Kairi?" Sora asked them when they arrived. Olette and Hayner looked at each other sadly. They explained what happened to us. "Kairi was really here?!"  
"Yeah. And…she said she was looking for you," Hayner told us.  
"Tell us where she is!" Sora and I begged excitedly.  
"Well…" Hayner started, and they explained what happened to Kairi, and why she wasn't here. Sora, when the story was finished, pulled out the Oathkeeper keychain, and I sighed.  
"Kairi…" he breathed. He pocketed the charm, and I looked at my friend.  
"Do ya think it mighta been Axel?" Goofy wondered aloud.  
"Sorry…" Hayner apologized.  
"Hey, it's not your fault. C'mon, cheer up!" Sora and I said. "Like we can even say that…" We sighed heavily. "We gotta help Kairi!" Sora and my sudden outburst startled Goofy, and he dropped the trophy Seifer had given us.  
"Whoa!" Goofy yelped as he dropped it. The crystals spilled in different directions, and Hayner, Pence, and Olette caught the red, yellow, and green ones respectively while I picked up the blue one.  
"That was close!" Pence sighed in relief. Sora took the blue crystal from me and held it up to the sunlight while Goofy pulled out the blue one from the pouch. Hayner, Pence, and Olette held up the crystals they each held, and as Sora and I stared into the crystal, we felt…different. Like someone else had told us to hold up the crystal.  
"Sora, Shadow!" Donald yelled at us.  
"Sora, Shadow! Are you okay?" Goofy asked.  
"Huh? What…?" we said, and snapped out of our daze. Goofy scratched his head while holding the munny pouch, and suddenly, Sora and my blue crystal started to glow and float into the air. We then used that to open the next gateway.  
"Wh-what just happened?" Pence wondered.  
"A new road is open," Sora and I explained, our voices in perfect synchronization. "And Kairi, Riku, and Kurai are waiting somewhere along it."  
"You'd better hurry, then," Olette told us.  
"You comin' back?" Hayner asked.  
"Promise!" we said. We nodded, and left for the Gummi Ship. Once aboard, Sora and I sighed heavily. "The King, Riku, Kurai—and now we've lost Kairi again, too."  
"Don't be said!" Donald told us.  
"Donald's right, you know! Why, you're the keys that connect everything!" Goofy added, trying to cheer us up.  
"So it's all OUR fault," the two of us sighed.  
"Gawrsh, I didn't mean that," Goofy said apologetically. "Just do what comes natural to ya and we're sure to find 'em."  
"You said it!" Donald agreed.  
"Thanks, guys," we told them. And with that, we headed back to Hollow Bastion, where we saw darkness covering it.


	15. Why's Hollow Bastion Covered In Darkness

A/N: And now, for chapter 15! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, and Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 15

Why Is Hollow Bastion Covered In Darkness? And We Found Ansem's Computer!

We arrived in Hollow Bastion, and upon our arrival, we saw a large troupe of Heartless run up the steps and vanish. We were stunned, to say the least.  
"Do you think…" Sora began.  
"Looks like there's more Heartless now," Goofy remarked. Out of nowhere, though, a small group of Dusks floated in above the stairs as well, and vanished. Again, that shocked us.  
"Uhhh…" Donald said.  
"Let's go check in with everyone," I suggested.  
"I think they're at Merlin's," Goofy guessed. We started to walk to Merlin's when we saw a yellow-haired man leaning against the wall next to Scrooge's ice cream shop, and he was very familiar to us.  
"Oh, Cloud!" Sora and I gasped. We hadn't seen him since our first journey. He noticed us.  
"Whatcha doing?" Donald inquired. The blonde looked down again, his eyes closed.  
"I'll get him. This time we settle it. Me, and the one who embodies all the darkness in me," he muttered to himself.  
"I thought you looked kinda different, Cloud," Donald remarked.  
"If I do, it's his fault," Cloud replied.  
"Whose?" I questioned.  
"Sephiroth. Tell me if you see him," Cloud answered shortly.  
"Okay. What's he look like?" Sora and I asked.  
"Silver hair. Carries a long sword," he said.  
"Sure. Well, be seeing you, Cloud," I said, and we started to leave.  
"Be careful. He messes with your head, makes you think darkness is the only way," the blonde warned us.  
"Is something wrong?" Aerith asked, walking over to us as Cloud started to leave.  
"Uhh…" Sora said hesitantly. Cloud turned around to face her.  
"It's nothing," he told her. She leaned in closer to him. "I don't want you involved."  
"You mean you don't want me there when you go away again?" she guessed.  
"I just—Listen, even if I go far away, I'll come back," he promised.  
"Do you mean it?" she pressed.  
"Yeah," he said, looking away.  
"See, you don't look so sure," she said, catching him in his words. "Well, okay, I understand. Go—get things settled."  
"Huh?"  
"No matter how far away you are…once you find your light…I'm sure it will lead you back here again. Right?" she said.  
"I suppose," he agreed, somewhat hesitantly.  
"So I'll stay here—and I'll cheer for you—Okay, Cloud?" she told him.  
"Okay." He walked away, and she turned to us to voice her concerns.  
"Wonder if he'll be okay," she murmured.  
"He'll be fine. I'm sure there's some light in him somewhere," I said wisely. I knew that situation very well, and I had been a part of it at one point in my life.  
"You're right," Aerith agreed. We left for the borough, and made our way to Merlin's house, where Cid was typing at the computer.  
"Hey fellas—you're just in time," he told us when we got inside. "Got some good news for ya, so get yourselves over to Leon's."  
"What kind of news?" Sora asked. My interest was now piqued.  
"We found the computer Ansem was using!" Yuffie announced.  
"Oh boy!" Donald cheered.  
"Yep. Should be able to get all kinds of info on the Heartless and the Organization," Cid added.  
"And maybe something on the dark realm, too?" Sora asked. "It looks like that's where Riku, Kurai, and Kairi are."  
"And the King," Donald chimed in.  
"Go see for yourselves!" Cid snapped.  
"It can't hurt!" Yuffie added.  
"What do you mean?" Sora asked.  
"Nothin'. Just get to the computer room through the castle postern. Watch your step!" Cid warned us. We took his advice, heading over to the castle. When we got to the Bailey, however, a voice stopped us.  
"Excuse me, are you with the Restoration Committee?" the voice asked. We looked around, but didn't see anything until three small fairies appeared. I somehow knew their names, and they were Yuna, Rikku, and Paine. "What's Leon's gang up to?"  
"They've got stuff to do over by the castle postern," Sora informed them.  
"Scoop!" the little blonde said excitedly.  
"Huh?" I said, confused by their behavior. I tilted my head to the side a bit.  
"Let's report," Paine told her friends.  
"To who?" Donald asked.  
"Our leader, of course!" the small brunette replied.  
"Yeah, you know, Malefi-" Rikku started to say, but Paine immediately covered her mouth. I could finish the statement. She was about to say 'Maleficent'. My friends got confused and suspicious looks on their faces as we stared at them. I, on the other hand, started to growl.  
"Don't mind her. I assure you, we come in peace," Paine told us. Rikku nodded, her mouth still covered.  
"You're kidding…" Yuna said in disbelief.  
"Problem?" Paine demanded. She let go of Rikku. "Okay, fine. You do the talking." Paine crossed her arms and disappeared with a small burst of light. Yuna turned back to us and bowed.  
"So sorry about this!" she said, and vanished as well. Rikku didn't say anything, just posed happily and vanished like her friends. Donald and Goofy looked at me and Sora, and we all four shrugged. We walked to the Postern, where we started to call out for Leon.  
"Leon!" Sora yelled.  
"Over here!" Aerith called out, waving to us as we approached.  
"You guys found Ansem's computer?" my friend asked her.  
"Uh-huh. The King is very interested in it," she told us, and my heart skipped a beat from the sudden excitement.  
"The King?" Donald repeated.  
"He's with Leon," she informed us.  
"We get to see the King!" Donald cheered happily behind us as he and Goofy jumped up and down with joy.  
"Hooray!" Goofy cheered as well. Sora and I looked at Aerith.  
"Er…Are Riku and Kurai with them?" Sora asked hesitantly. She shook her head, and we sighed. "Well, at least we can ask the King about him. And that computer might be able to tell us something."  
"Good idea! They're right through there," she said, and pointed to the entrance. We walked into the Corridors, and I swore I heard something, as did my friends, but when we looked about, there was nothing there. We fought through the Corridors, seeing as there were many Heartless around the area, and eventually made our way into a room at the end of a hall. Once inside, we all four noticed a large portrait of Ansem hanging on the wall.  
"Ansem…" Sora and I murmured, and remembered our time during our first journey to stop him.  
"Gawrsh, I guess this must be his room," Goofy guessed.  
"Where's the King?" Donald wondered impatiently.  
"Hello?" Sora and I called out into the room.  
"Hey, you!" a voice said, and we turned and saw a young woman with dark brown hair, straight as a ruler and in black clothes standing in the doorway. "I'm looking for somebody. Have any of you seen a guy with spiky hair?" Sora gently tugged at one of the spikes in his hair, and the woman giggled. We would learn her name is Tifa. "Spikier." We all four shook our heads, and she said, "I'll just take a look around." Tifa walked around the room, knocking on walls, looking under the desk, and inspecting some of the books. When she seemed to be finished, she suddenly kicked a wall so hard the room shook slightly. We were amazed by her strength, and a cold chill ran down my spine out of slight fear of her power. "Sorry to bother you."  
"No bother, ma'am!" we all replied, standing up straight. Once she had left and closed the door, we relaxed.  
"So you made it," Leon's voice said. We turned and saw him leaning against a wall.  
"Leon!" Sora and I said happily. He nodded in acknowledgement. "Isn't the King with you?" He held a finger to his lips for a moment.  
"You'll see him soon enough," he assured us.  
"Hey!" Donald protested.  
"Here, this ought to tide you over," Leon told us, and pressed his hand against a part of the wall. A panel of the wall disappeared in response. "Ansem's computer room." We entered the room, and Sora and I ran eagerly to the computer.  
"This is it! Where's Kairi! Where's Riku? And Kurai!" Sora said, and he started to gently tap at the keys on the computer, and then started to hit them hard.  
"Easy…You wanna break it?" Leon cautioned us. I heard something, but pushed it away.  
"Oh, sorry. Guess I got a little carried away," the younger brunette apologized, and I chuckled. Suddenly, Goofy looked up and saw a little blue creature on the ceiling.  
"Whoa!" he gasped. The little blue thing looked down at us.  
"Hmm?" it said, and lost its grip on the ceiling. "Whoa!" He fell down into the keyboard. We would soon get him as a summon, and his name was Stitch.  
"Get offa there!" Donald snapped at him. He then jumped onto the keyboard to grab Stitch, but Stitch jumped on Donald and bounced off, scurrying away with a laugh. Donald turned around, pressing buttons without realizing it, and an alarm sounded. His expression became scared when the alarm sounded.  
"Attention current user. This is a warning. Further misuse of this terminal will result in immediate defensive action," a voice in the computer said.  
"Who's there?" Sora asked.  
"I am the Master Control Program. I oversee this system," it replied. I decided to call it the MCP for short.  
"Where are you?" Sora asked. Donald pressed another button with his foot, and the alarm sounded again. We all turned on him.  
"Donald!" Goofy, Leon, Sora, and I yelled.  
"I'm sorry…" Donald apologized.  
"Decision gate reached. You are now under arrest," the MCP announced.  
"Arrest?!" Sora and I yelped. Donald was stuck standing on one foot, so Goofy started to help him off.  
I heard something behind us, and then heard Leon yell in warning, "Run!" We looked at Leon, then to the power system, which was starting to turn on. Donald was still in Goofy's arms when four beams of light shot out of the computer, confining us to grids.  
Sora and I woke up on the floor, but it wasn't in Ansem's computer room anymore. We stared at ourselves, and Sora was decked out in a very computer-like outfit with blue glowing lines, while I was just simply covered in blue lines that reminded me of a computer chip and data.  
"Sora! Shadow!" Donald's voice called to us. Donald and Goofy were also covered in the glowing blue lines, but they were being led over to us by some Heartless we'd never seen before.  
"Go on, show 'em who's boss!" Sora encouraged. Suddenly, a person appeared next to us. "Who're you?"  
"I am Commander Sark," he told us.  
"A Heartless commander?" I said doubtfully.  
"Observe," he said simply, and pressed a button on a remote. Donald and Goofy were suddenly being electrocuted with data, and they wailed with pain as it happened.  
"Okay, you're the boss! We get it," we yelped quickly, and Sark put the remote away, smirking. Soon after, Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I were thrown into the Pit Cell. The brunette and I looked out into a vast landscape.  
"Man, what kind of world is this, anyway?" I wondered aloud. Donald and Goofy shrugged, not knowing.  
"You're inside a mainframe computer system," someone said beside us. We looked, and saw a man sitting near a terminal.  
"A what system?" Sora repeated, confused.  
"A computer system—for processing data," he explained. "This system is a copy of one created by a corporation called ENCOM. The original program was destroyed." He stood up. "But this copy was acquired by another User. The new User updated and customized the programs, renaming the system 'Hollow Bastion OS.' He used the system for town maintenance, and to advance his private research. My name is Tron. I'm a security program. But now I'm under arrest, same as you."  
"Did you get any of that?" Sora and I asked Donald and Goofy quietly.  
"Gawrsh…you know…maybe we should just introduce ourselves," Goofy suggested. We all turned to Tron.  
"I'm Sora, and this is Shadow," Sora told Tron.  
"And I'm Donald," Donald added.  
"Nice to meet'cha, Tron. I'm Goofy," Goofy said kindly.  
"With the configuration, you must be Users," Tron guessed.  
"Users?" I repeated, puzzled.  
"You'd better get out of here quickly. Who knows what the MCP will do to you?" he warned us.  
"MCP?" Sora repeated this time.  
"The Master Control Program. It controls the whole system," Tron explained. "If you idle here, you will be de-rezzed." We all stared at him, shocked.  
"De-rezzed?!" Donald gasped.  
"So, how do we get out of here?!" Sora and I demanded.  
"This terminal could've gotten you back to the User world," he said, and we looked hopeful. "But the MCP cut the power 50 microcycles ago." We sighed, not hopeful anymore. "If we could bring the energy core in the canyon online, we could power it back up. The problem is—we're stuck in this cell. We're not going anywhere unless we unlock the energy fields." We saw a large power grid with a keyhole in the center, so Sora summoned his Keyblade to him, and my claws glowed in response. We quickly unlocked the energy field, and Tron approached us.  
"Remarkable…It seems you both have some unique functions. I'll go with you to the canyon. You'll need someone who can interface with the energy core, right?" Tron said.  
"If you say so…Thanks, Tron," Sora thanked him. We left the Pit Cell and took a transport to the Canyon. Once there, in a side room, Tron accessed a large machine.  
"This is the energy core," Tron informed us. We used the Keyblade and my light to install the missing part to the core and restore energy to the console in the Pit Cell.  
"Mission accomplished?" Sora asked him.  
"Yes. Now…will you do something for me?" Tron said.  
"You got it!" we replied.  
"Don't you want to know what it is first?" Tron said, surprised.  
"You helped us! Now it's our turn," Donald explained.  
"You guys really are Users. Your actions are totally illogical," Tron realized. The four of us glanced at one another. "Let's hurry back to the Pit Cell."  
"Where's that again?" Sora asked him.  
"That's the sector where we met," he reminded us.  
"Roger!" I said, and we left back to the Pit Cell, where Tron started to configure the terminal.  
"So what did you want us to do?" Sora asked as he worked.  
"Find my User. He'll give you the password to access the DTD," he told us.  
"You bet!" Donald replied.  
"So, um…" Sora began. Tron stopped working and stood up.  
"DTD is the name my User gave to the dataspace," Tron explained. "Copies of all the original system programs are there, along with anything that's sensitive or restricted."  
"Is there stuff about the Heartless, or Organization XIII?" Goofy wondered.  
"Hmm…Most likely," Tron replied. He turned around and started to work on the terminal again. "A number of my functions were appropriated when I last took on the MCP. That's why I need the password. If I can get inside the DTD, I can access my original backup program and restore all my functions. Then, I'll be able to put this system back to the way it was before the MCP got control and changed everything. The way it was supposed to be—a free system for you—the Users."  
"Gee, Tron, ain't the MCP one of those programs, too? Do ya know who it was who made it?" Goofy asked.  
"Actually…I don't know," Tron answered.  
"Okay, we'll just have to find your user and ask him. What's his name?" I asked.  
"You mean you don't know? My user is the user of this system: Ansem the Wise," he told us.  
"Ansem?!" the four of us gasped in horror. We looked at each other as the terminal flashed.  
"It looks like the MCP is on to us," Tron said, looking nervous. "I'll keep this terminal up and running. You better exit the system, now!"  
"Sure…But Tron…Ansem is…" Sora tried to say, but Donald cut him off.  
"We'll get ya the password!" he said determinedly. Tron quickly fixed something with the terminal, and turned to us.  
"Okay. You're good to go. Hurry!" he ordered us. He stood aside and watched as we teleported out of the system. We soon arrived in the real world, outside of the computer, where Leon had been trying to get us out. He looked at us with relief when we arrived.  
"We did it!" Donald said happily when we arrived.  
"Where have you been?" Leon demanded.  
"Well, uh…There's a…world inside this computer, where these, um…programs live, and…" Sora and I tried to explain. Thankfully, Leon understood.  
"So in other words…Ansem's research data is off-limits unless we know the password," Leon summarized.  
"I think that's right," I agreed.  
"But you've already defeated Ansem…" he added.  
"Gawrsh, maybe we'll never find the password," Goofy said hopelessly.  
"That means…this is all a wild goose chase," Leon realized. Tifa walked in.  
"You're chasing what, now? Well, well! A hidden room! Guess I'd better take another look around," she said. She returned to Ansem's Study, and began to look more thoroughly. As she searched, we walked into the room.  
"She just won't give up…" I murmured to myself.  
"And neither will we!" Donald said, looking determined.  
"C'mon, we gotta look for that password!" Goofy reminded us.  
"Right. We made a promise to Tron," I agreed. We searched thoroughly as well, and ended up standing in front of the large portrait of Ansem.  
"Excuse me," Tifa said, and she picked up the extremely large portrait off the wall, setting it on the floor, and stunning us again with her strength. She punched the wall, but nothing happened, so she just sighed and left. We saw a diagram on the wall where the portrait had been.  
"What's this doodle?" Sora wondered.  
"Hollow…Main…Security…Tron…Door to…" Donald read aloud from the fading letters.  
"Looks like a diagram or somethin'," Goofy remarked.  
"Door…to…Darkness?" Donald finished reading, but looked confused.  
"Oh!" Sora and I gasped, and realized what it meant. I crawled up the wall and pointed at each letter while Sora jumped to point at them. "D—T—D!"  
"DTD!" Donald and Goofy gasped in realization as Leon walked in.  
"What's up?" he asked us.  
"Look at this! This must be the dataspace! The DTD. See? The Door to Darkness!" I said, feeling excited. Leon walked closer.  
"What do you know. But…that still leaves the password," he reminded us.  
"Say, fellas, did somebody mention the Door to Darkness?" a very familiar voice said. We looked and saw King Mickey standing by the door with his hood up.  
"Your Majesty!" Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I cried out cheerfully. He shushed us, looked into the hallway, and then closed the door. Donald rushed over and hugged him tightly, and Goofy picked them both up, holding them in a group hug.  
"Long time no see!" the brunette said excitedly.  
"Shh!" Mickey shushed us. He looked at the computer room. "The Organization might be listening!" Sora put a finger to his lips in understanding. Goofy put down Donald and Mickey, and Donald hugged Mickey one last time before the King looked about. I could tell he seemed paranoid. "You mentioned the Door to Darkness?"  
"Uh, yes, sir! You see, we're lookin' for the secret password," Goofy explained.  
"Password?" Mickey repeated, seeming confused. We all four sighed, not wanting to explain the whole freaking story. "Oh, I guess you mean like a code." Leon smiled at that. "Well, the Door to Darkness can only be opened by the seven princesses. There's Snow White, Jasmine, and Belle…"  
"Of course…" Leon realized, and walked back into the computer room.  
"What're you trying to do?" the King asked.  
"With that password, we can get access to Ansem's research data," I replied.  
"So that means you might be able to find out where he is!" Mickey said, looking excited.  
"Stop jokin' around, Your Majesty," Sora told him. "We already defeated Ansem. You know that."  
"Looks like I've got a lot of explainin' to do," the King sighed, and folded his arms.  
"We're listening, Your Majesty!" Donald told him. Leon walked into the room again.  
"Okay…but first, we've got a question…" Sora and I started to say.  
"Hey, isn't Tron waiting for you guys?" Leon reminded us. We looked at Leon, back to the King, and back to Leon again.  
"Don't worry, I'm not goin' anywhere," he assured us. "If those Heartless attack, I'll stand and fight with everybody here."  
"Yeah…we will, too," Sora and I agreed.  
"Then let's talk more later," the King said.  
"That's a promise!" Donald agreed.  
"I'll see ya when you get back," he said. "Oh! One more thing. Let me give your clothes some new powers, Sora. You and Shadow can use them together."  
"Really?!" we gasped excitedly.  
"You bet! You've done so much—just consider it a thank-you present," he told us.  
"Thanks, Your Majesty! We're heading off to see Tron now, so wait here for us, okay?" we said thankfully.  
"I will, Sora and Shadow. And remember—be careful!" he cautioned us. We nodded, and Sora and I gained Master Form. We headed back to the computer and accessed the transfer system. We ended up in the Pit Cell again, and Goofy walked over to the computer terminal.  
"Gawrsh, I wonder where Tron is," Goofy wondered aloud.  
"Don't touch that!" Donald snapped at him, but the terminal flashed.  
"Huh?" Goofy said, bewildered.  
"Goofy!" Donald, Sora, and I yelled at him. The three of us disappeared in a flash of light.  
"Uhh…I didn't do it!" Goofy tried to protest, but he disappeared in a flash of light as well. When we arrived at the place we were taken to, it was a large area of flat land and high walls. The ground was laced with a bright, blue-lit grid pattern.  
"I didn't touch nothin'!" Goofy insisted when he joined us.  
"Welcome to the Game Grid," Sark's voice rang out to us.  
"Game Grid?" Sora repeated, confused.  
"That's right, you've been chosen to play a few games. Lose, and you will be subject to immediate de-resolution. Win? Well," he said, chuckling, "no one wins."  
"We're not gonna play your games!" Donald yelled defiantly.  
"You have no choice," Sark snapped.  
"Well then, get on with it!" I shouted. Sora and I rode the lightcycle, and while riding, dodged walls and defeated Heartless. A large Devastator Heartless appeared, and shot an energy ball at me and Sora. We swiftly dodged, and the energy ball hit the wall, creating a giant crack for us to escape through.  
"All right! It looks like we can escape through there!" Sora yelled, and we rode the lightcycle again, repeating the process of dodging walls and taking out Heartless as we went. We raced through the crack in the wall, and ended up being transported back to the Pit Cell. We found Tron lying on the floor when we returned.  
"Tron!" Sora and I gasped. He stood up, looking weakened.  
"I don't understand. Why are you here?" he asked, confused.  
"We came to give you the password," I explained.  
"Why didn't you just transmit the data?" he asked, seeming perplexed.  
"Transmit?" Donald repeated. Tron almost fell, but Sora and I quickly caught him.  
"Hey, are you okay?" Sora asked him with concern.  
"I'll be all right…once we access the DTD," he assured us. We left for the Canyon, and then made our way to the Dataspace. Tron accessed the computer. "All right, what's the password?"  
"Well…Belle, Snow White…" Donald started.  
"Aurora, Alice, Jasmine, Cinderella…" Goofy continued. Our friends glanced at Sora and me for us to finish the password.  
"Kairi," Sora and I finished in unison.  
"Kairi, got it," Tron said, and he finished typing in the password. There was a small rumble when he finished. "That did it!" Suddenly, though, an alarm sounded, and a computer's voice spoke.  
"Now switching DTD over from hibernation to active mode. The process will take some time. Please enjoy a game while the process is running," the computer said.  
"Oh no!" Tron gasped, and began to type furiously at the computer.  
"Not another game!" Sora groaned.  
"No, it's the DTD's final security routine. This isn't a game. Stay focused!" Tron told us. A Heartless symbol appeared on each of the three walls of the Dataspace, and so did some Heartless. Sora and I fought all of the Heartless and unlocked each of the monitors. Once finished, Tron placed his hand on the scanner on the keyboard, and energy flowed into him. "I'm as good as new! All my functions have been restored!"  
"Oh boy!" Donald cheered, but an alarm sounded and the keyboard flashed. A beam of energy shot down at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I, but we swiftly dodged the attack.  
"Finally. I have access to the DTD. My takeover of the system is now complete. I might have anticipated such a simple password. What's this? An emergency destruct program for the town. Let's see how it performs," the MCP said. Sora and I gasped in horror.  
"No!" Tron protested, and placed his hand on the scanner, restoring power to it. He typed a few keys and the alarm stopped.  
"Program! You changed the password!" the MCP said angrily to Tron.  
"There, that should buy us some time," the program sighed with relief.  
"Tron! Tell us what's going on!" I ordered.  
"The MCP's loading a hostile program into the I/O Tower," Tron explained.  
"What do we do?" Donald asked.  
"We've got to protect the User town," Tron told us. We nodded in agreement. "Let's head to the tower!" We returned to the Canyon and rode the transport to the I/O Tower. In the Communication Room, we saw a large transport beam. "It must be total chaos outside," Tron murmured.  
"I think there's gonna be trouble INSIDE, too." Donald added, and we ran back out to the Hallway. Out there, a Hostile Program awaited us, spinning its gears.  
"I'm disappointed in you, Program. Why do you insist on allying with these selfish Users?" the MCP said to Tron.  
"Because I want to help them. Something written into my code commands me to do what is right," Tron answered.  
"Really? And what command would that be?" the MCP asked doubtfully.  
"I can't really say for sure," Tron replied hesitantly.  
"Friends—They help each other, that's all," Sora told him. We all three nodded, and the Hostile Program made a move. "Uh-oh—look out!" The program suddenly shot beams of data that barricaded the walls, trapping us. We fought the Hostile Program and beat it, thanks to Tron, Sora, and my Limit: Setup. We used that Limit, and after a couple uses of that, it was finished. Once the program was beaten, it collapsed to the floor and exploded in a burst of light. We returned to the Communication Room, where Tron started to configure the computer terminal for us to return to the User world.  
"I really owe you one," he said as he worked. "With all my functions up and running, I think I've got a chance of getting system control away from the MCP. Now I'd better get to work. It's what my User would want."  
"What Ansem would want…" Sora and I murmured to ourselves. We looked over to Donald and Goofy, who nodded. "Listen, Tron. We didn't get the password from Ansem. We just sort of found it, back in the User world. By accident. And one more thing…Ansem—he was our enemy. I mean…he still is…we guess."  
"Well, actually…he's my enemy, too," Tron admitted.  
"What do you mean?" I asked, perplexed.  
"Ansem took ENCOM's original system and customized it for his own use. I was part of the original system, and Ansem modified me, too. So that makes him my User," he explained, and we nodded in understanding. "But Ansem is also the one who brought back the MCP. The Ansem I first knew wouldn't do that. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."  
"That's okay…but now we REALLY don't get it," Sora and I said, bewildered by all of this computer talk.  
"I don't…understand it either," Tron admitted. "But I think Users, like you, are going to be the ones who will finally figure it out. You have the ability to take illogical routes and still arrive at the answers you seek. Now go—before the MCP starts acting up again! Any data you need from the DTD can be accessed through my User's terminal. I'll keep a dedicated access channel open for you. I changed the password, so you won't have to worry about the MCP for a while."  
"Access channel?" Sora repeated, and I shook my head, it was so jumbled from this computer talk.  
"I knew you'd ask," Tron replied with a chuckle. He pressed a button on the terminal. "It's a very important link between our worlds. It's how we stay connected." Grid beams appeared around Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I. "You…my friends…are the new password."  
"Thanks Tron! Take care!" Sora and I said to him.  
"You too! And give my best to the Users!" he told us, and we disappeared. We ended up back in the computer room with Leon.  
"Well, that's that!" I said, and sighed with relief. Hopefully I wouldn't hear much computer jumbo for a while. Leon pointed to the monitor behind him.  
"Look," he told us. We saw small moving sprites of ourselves with the words 'Thank You!' typed underneath.  
"Tron…hang in there," Sora murmured.  
"So, where do we start? Leon asked.  
"I know! Let's access the DTD!" I said eagerly. Leon began typing at the keyboard.  
"The King's checking the situation in town," Leon told us as he typed. "He'll be back soon, so don't worry. Hey, look, it's asking for a password."  
"That's easy. It's…" Goofy began.  
"Sora!" Sora said.  
"Shadow!" I added. Leon typed our names in.  
"Donald!" Donald chimed in  
"Goofy!" Goofy finished. Leon finished typing our names in.  
"That's…to the point," he said.  
"Well?" I inquired, leaning forward slightly.  
"That did it. We're in," Leon told us. "I have to go into town. Need to see what that last shakeup did."  
"You're not gonna check out the data? It wasn't exactly easy to get!" Sora huffed.  
"I'm coming right back. Hey Sora, Shadow—why don't you get started on loading the data and copying it down?" he asked. We looked at him hesitantly. "It's just a few keystrokes. Easy, right?" He started walking out of the room, placing his hand on Sora's shoulder and then my back as he passed. He turned back and waved before leaving the room, and we turned our attention to the computer. Sora typed something in, but Donald became impatient.  
"Did it work?" he asked us.  
"Hey, these things take time, okay?" Sora snapped back. I typed in some keys, and something flashed on the screen. "Whoa…It's doing something!" I rolled my eyes.  
"Huh?" Donald said.  
"I think it wants to know what we wanna know," Goofy guessed.  
"Riku, Kurai, and Kairi!" Sora said eagerly, and I rapidly typed the keys in for him. A red screen appeared on the screen that read, 'Data Error'. "No way…Even Ansem's computer doesn't know…" Sora sadly walked away with me on his shoulder trying to comfort him. Goofy moved in to type something.  
"Whatcha doing?" Donald asked him.  
"I thought I'd ask the computer if it can tell us about them Nobodies," Goofy replied. He typed several keys, and a gray window with the Nobody symbol appeared on the screen.  
"What's this?" I asked as Sora and I walked back over. The red window appeared again.  
"The data is corrupt," the computer said.  
"What?!" Donald yelped.  
"How about the Organization?" Goofy tried. He typed a few more keys, and a progress window appeared. "There!" The red window again.  
"The data is corrupt," the computer said again. Sora slammed his fists on the computer keys.  
"Stupid computer!" he complained, and continued to slam his fists on the keyboard, making the windows on the screen jump around wildly. I sighed and thought, _'Just let him get it out of his system…'_  
"Sora!" Goofy yelled at him. Suddenly, a window appeared with a picture of an elderly blond man wearing a red scarf.  
"Who's this guy?" I wondered.  
"Well, I see ya got things workin'!" Mickey said, and we saw him walk into the room.  
"Oh, Your Majesty!" we said as he walked in. he shushed us again and approached us.  
"Good goin'. The computer should tell us the things we need to know," he said.  
"But it keeps on saying the data inside's all ker-skuffled," Goofy told him.  
"All we got is a picture of some guy we don't know," I explained. Mickey saw the picture and jumped.  
"Ansem the Wise!" he said excitedly. We looked at each other.  
"Come on, are you teasing us again?" Sora asked.  
"Did you forget what Ansem looked like, Your Majesty?" Donald added.  
"Of course I do! And this is him! I'm positive!" the King said. Sora grabbed Mickey and began to drag him to Ansem's Study.  
"Excuse me? Could you come this way, please?" Sora asked, and we led him out to the study.


	16. Hollow Bastion Needs Us!

A/N: Chapter 16! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, and Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 16

Hollow Bastion Needs Us! Riku, Kurai, & Kairi, We're Coming!

Sora and I had dragged King Mickey into Ansem's Study to show him the portrait of Ansem.  
"Look, THIS is Ansem. You know, the guy we all worked reeeally hard to defeat?" Sora reminded him. I nodded furiously from Sora's shoulder, remembering how much trouble he'd given us.  
"Oh, that's right—I never finished explaining," Mickey said, sighing heavily.  
"What?" Donald asked.  
"Well, the man in the picture is definitely the one who tried to take over Kingdom Hearts—the one you fellas defeated," he confirmed. "But, what you actually fought was his Heartless. Ya see, he wasn't really Ansem. He just went around telling everybody that he was."  
"You mean…" Sora and I murmured.  
"Ohh…" Donald said.  
"Huh…" Goofy muttered.  
"Whaaaat?" we all four yelped, making the King jump with shock.  
"We went through all that trouble to defeat an imposter?" Sora wailed, and I groaned.  
"Yep. A fake. But he still had to be stopped," Mickey told us.  
"Aw, I can't believe it…" Donald muttered.  
"Uh, I'm kinda confused. If he's a fake, then what happened to the real Ansem?" Goofy wondered.  
"Well, that's just what I'm tryin' to figure out," Mickey answered. "Ansem the Wise should know all about Organization XIII's plans, and what's been happening to the worlds. I'm pretty sure he'll give us some help. Ya know, I came close to finding him once…"  
"Hmm?" Goofy said to himself.  
"Don't tell me there's more…I'm lost enough as it is!" Sora complained.  
"Well, let's see. Some feller named Ansem, who wasn't really Ansem, became a Heartless. Does that mean a Nobody got created when that happened, too?" Goofy theorized.  
"Yup! And that Nobody is the leader of the Organization," the King answered.  
"Whaaaat?" we all yelped again, but Mickey didn't react this time.  
"I know I've met this fake Ansem before, and I've seen the leader of Organization XIII, too. Hmm, kinda felt like bein' around the same fella," Mickey told us.  
"So, where did you meet this guy?" I asked the King.  
"Gosh…I can't remember," he said, and we looked disappointed. "Ansem the Wise—the real Ansem—must know the imposter's true identity. That's why I've got to find him and ask him about it." Sora and I glared at the painting.  
"You…! You started all of this! Because of you, Riku, Kurai, and Kairi…Oh! Your Majesty, do you know where Riku and Kurai are?" Sora and I asked him hopefully. Mickey looked away from us.  
"They're…I'm sorry. I can't help," he sighed. Sora and I walked over to Mickey's front.  
"Really, You Majesty? Are you sure?" we pressed. The King turned away again.  
"I'm sorry, Sora and Shadow," he sighed again.  
"What about Kairi? Organization XIII might've kidnapped her," the brunette said. Mickey whirled around in shock.  
"Oh, no!" he gasped. He looked at the painting. "Sora, Shadow, Donald, Goofy. I was plannin' to go get help from Ansem the Wise. But—now I know I forgot the most important thing. Helping other should always come before asking others for help. We're safe and sound—and free to choose! So there's no reason we shouldn't choose to help our friends." Donald and Goofy nodded. "Let's look for Riku, Kurai, and Kairi together." Suddenly, out of nowhere, a huge explosion knocked Mickey off his feet, and I almost tumbled off from Sora's shoulder. I dug my claws in gently, though, so as not to hurt him and to stay balanced.  
"Outside!" I said urgently.  
"Sounds like we gotta start by helpin' out here!" the King said, looking dead serious. He ran out into the corridor, and we followed him. Once out in the corridor, we caught a glimpse of a burst of green flames, which meant Maleficent was here.  
"Heartless! Leave the white ones. Turn your attention to Sora, Shadow, and their friends!" she ordered the Heartless.  
"Uh-oh!" Goofy gasped as we were forced into fighting the Heartless and the Nobodies. Once both sides were beaten, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine flew in from down the hall.  
"Where's Maleficent?" Yuna inquired.  
"Looks like she ran away," Sora told them.  
"Well, that was PRET-ty lame of her," Rikku remarked.  
"I guess we picked the wrong side," Paine added. The three fairies turned to each other and started babbling while we tried to wait patiently. Finally, Sora and I intervened.  
"Um, hey…if you're looking to pick sides, why don't you pick Leon's? They can always use help," we offered. They turned to face us.  
"Does this Leon have any treasure?" Yuna asked.  
"Yeah, lots of stuff!" Donald told them with a sly look.  
"Perfect!" Rikku cheered.  
"Come on," Paine agreed.  
"Who ARE you?" Sora asked them.  
"Oh, we're nothing worth mentioning," Yuna assured us.  
"Just three treasure fanatics," Paine said simply.  
"Later, taters!" Rikku said, and the three of them disappeared with magic.  
"Did Leon…really have any treasure?" Sora wondered. Donald snickered, answering that question. We ran off to the Postern, where some Dusks attempted to block us.  
"We don't have time for you!" I snarled, and we took them out each with one shot, and then ran around to the bridge. Suddenly, a large beam of light slammed into the ground as we ran over, and it blocked us. A silver-haired man with a single large wing stood up when the light dissipated. He turned to face us.  
"Sora, Shadow, it's Sephiroth!" Donald warned us.  
"Ain't Sephiroth the one who's supposed to be the dark part of Cloud's heart?" Goofy asked, remembering.  
"Did Cloud tell you that?" Sephiroth guessed. "Then he must understand now."  
"Just what are you gonna do to him?" Sora demanded worriedly.  
"Nothing. Cloud is the one who hungers for darkness," Sephiroth told us.  
"He said he's got a score to settle with you," I growled.  
"I see…He wants to meet me again," Sephiroth murmured, and he started to leave. "Then I should give him what he wants. That last bit of light is always the hardest to snuff out." He floated into the air and disappeared with a burst of darkness. We took no time to ponder it, and instead ran to the Restoration Site, where Leon was slicing through Heartless. Aerith was also there for healing support. She turned and saw us, and then shouted a warning.  
"Sora, Shadow! Behind you!" she yelled. We whipped around and saw several Dancer Nobodies appear behind us. We fought the new enemies, and then ran to catch up with Leon.  
"The King's in the Bailey. You better head over there!" he advised, and we nodded in acknowledgement.  
"Got it!" Sora and I called back to him. We entered the Bailey and didn't see anyone. Walking over to a rock formation, we saw the fight going on ahead of us. "Whoa…"  
We saw what looked like literally thousands upon thousands of Heartless storming the cliffs. Yuffie was fighting in the fray. Her shuriken swung back to her, and she caught it, but fell to the ground, tired. Aerith used some healing magic on her, and she got back up again as Aerith ran over to her. They continued on with their fight. We saw Stitch using his plasma shooters at several Heartless as they approached. One got too close, but he jumped over it, still shooting. Paine was chased to the edge of a ridge by an Armored Knight Heartless, and she dodged as it swiped at her. She jumped onto its head and over it, getting out of the way just in time for Yuna and Rikku to fly in and attack it from above with a team kick, sending it over the edge. The Heartless tumbled over the cliff as the pair gave each other an aerial high-five, but Paine flew by as more Heartless chased them. Cloud and Leon were surrounded by a multitude of Heartless that were trying to push them to the edge of the cliff. The pair stood back-to-back with their swords out and ready.  
"Think you can handle this many?" Leon asked him.  
"Well…might be tough if one more shows up," Cloud replied.  
"Then that'll have to be the one I take care of," Leon said, smirking.  
"What, you're fighting, too?" Cloud questioned jokingly. They leapt away from each other, decimating the Heartless and sending hearts floating into the air. He was separated from Leon, and when he cleaved two, more appeared, ready for action. Suddenly, all the Heartless surrounding him were gone. He saw Sephiroth, standing at the edge of the cliff, sword out, and had just sliced through nearly twenty Heartless. Cloud stared him down.  
"Sephiroth!" he yelled, and clutched his buster sword. Sephiroth walked forward, pointing his sword at Cloud. The long, thin blade barely grazed against Cloud's sword.  
"I understand that you've been looking for me," Sephiroth replied calmly.  
"Yeah. Once I get rid of you, the darkness will go away," Cloud said.  
"Can you do it? That darkness comes from your own dark memories. Do you think you can erase your past?" Sephiroth taunted.  
"Shut up!" Cloud shouted furiously.  
"Face it—you can turn your back on the present and live in the past. Because the light of the present is too much!" he continued to torment the blonde.  
"You don't know me!" Cloud yelled at him in frustration.  
"Cloud!" Tifa's voice rang out. Cloud tried to look, but a flash of light made him wince.  
"I know. Because…I am you," Sephiroth replied, and vanished with a flash, leaving a few dark feathers behind. Cloud looked around him, and then ran, Tifa running to where he was standing.  
"Cloud! Wait!" she shouted after him. She was quickly surrounded by Heartless. She backfisted one behind her, delivered a powerful punch to one in front, and then gave a powerful side kick to another. We stopped watching.  
"Leon, everybody—hang in there!" Sora and I said determinedly. Mickey suddenly dropped out of nowhere, his arms held out and his back to us.  
"Okay, fellas, you've gotta go find Riku, Kurai, and Kairi!" he told us.  
"But Leon and the others are friends, too!" Sora and I protested.  
"Don't worry. There's already lotsa help here. We'll take care of this fight," he assured us.  
"But…we promised Leon!" we tried to argue.  
"Donald! Goofy!" the King said urgently. The pair straightened up at their names. "Take Sora and Shadow and get goin'!"  
"Riku, Kurai, Kairi…give us a little time, okay?" Sora and I whispered, looking down.  
"Your Majesty!" Donald said.  
"We understand. We'll go search for Riku, Kurai, and Kairi!" Goofy agreed.  
"Right. Watch for danger!" the King warned us.  
"You be careful, too!" Donald replied.  
"Wait, you guys!" Sora argued. We looked back at the King who was still scouting the area, his back to us.  
"Sora, Shadow, do as you're told!" Donald told us.  
"You're comin' with us whether ya want to or not!" Goofy added.  
"C'mon, Sora and Shadow! Ya gotta be good!" Donald said, and we winked at us. The two of us caught right on.  
"Gotcha," we whispered.  
"Well then, skedaddle!" Goofy ordered, and Sora and I mouthed, _'Thank you'_ to our friends.  
"Let's go!" Donald said, and we ran right past Mickey and down into the cliffs.  
"We're sorry, Your Majesty!" Sora and I said, and the four of us saluted him.  
"Hope you can forgive us!" Goofy added. We raced to catch up with the others, but we were stopped by Demyx, who seemed hesitant to ready himself. He didn't seem to know how to react.  
"Hey, you guys are looking lively," he said casually with a small wave.  
"Scram!" Donald snapped at him.  
"Didn't we catch you messing around in the Underworld?" Sora remembered. "How'd a wimp like you get into Organization XIII?" Demyx suddenly looked scared. Sora folded his arms. "I bet you can't even fight."  
"Yeah, but we can!" Donald chimed in.  
"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearance," Demyx warned us, wagging his finger. My friends readied their weapons as I jumped off from Sora's shoulder and snarled, and Demyx turned around, looking worried.  
"I told them they were sending the wrong guy…" he muttered to himself.  
"Who is this kook?" Sora wondered.  
"Remember, the Organization's made up of Nobodies," Goofy reminded us.  
"Right—no hearts!" I said, remembering. Demyx turned back around.  
"Oh, we do too have hearts! Don't be mad…" he said.  
"You can't trick us!" Donald snapped, seeing right through him. Demyx turned around again, and this time when he faced us, he had another personality that arose.  
"Silence, traitors," he said menacingly, pointing at me and Sora. He summoned his sitar to his with a burst of water, and we started to fight the weirdo. It was a somewhat long fight, but very wet. Once defeated, Demyx slumped to the ground. His sitar disappeared, and he looked devastated.  
"No way!" he wailed as he faded away in a wave of dark water.  
"Anyone from the Organization who'd like to be next?!" Sora and I yelled with hostile tones.  
"Hey, Sora and Shadow! Don't antagonize them!" Donald cautioned us.  
"Oh. Sorry," we apologized.  
"Then let's go!" Donald said, and we started to leave.  
"Aha! There you are!" the King's voice said, and we froze in our tracks. _'Uh-oh…busted,'_ I thought. We turned to face the music as the King approached us. "You sure have lotsa friends to help. So, I guess we better all pull together and finish this battle for good!"  
"Yes, Your Majesty!" we all said in unison, straightening up. I smiled slightly to the small king.  
Mickey started to walk ahead, when Goofy suddenly shouted, "Look out!" Goofy pushed Mickey out of the way, just in time as a large rock hit him right in the head. He flew back, sliding on the ground to the cliff, where he lay there, unconscious.  
"No…" the King said as Donald, Sora, and I rushed over to him. Donald shook him, trying to wake him up.  
"Hey! You're the King's Captain! You gotta get up!" Donald shouted at his friend.  
"C'mon, wake up!" Sora and I all but begged.  
"I'm sorry about the ice cream!" Donald yelled desperately. Mickey stood back a small distance.  
"Goofy…?" he breathed.  
"Ohhhh…Goofy…" Donald whimpered, and laid his head on Goofy's chest. Sora and I crawled closer.  
"This is not happening…It can't be happening…It can't…" Sora whispered, and I whimpered slightly and lowered my head. Mickey made a fist and looked off to where we were headed.  
"They'll pay for this," he hissed furiously, and ripped off his coat. He summoned his gold Keyblade and ran off to our objective. Donald felt a surge of fury and ran after him. Sora stood up, looked at Goofy one last time, and took off, feeling regretful. I ran after him, snarling with rage. We fought through the Ravine Trail, and at the first section, Yuffie appeared to help us fight off the Heartless.  
"Sora, Shadow, did ya miss me? Yuffie is on the scene!" she said, and she helped us fight off the first wave of Heartless. Once we had finished fending off the first wave, Yuffie left. "All right! Get going!" Sora and I continued to the cliffs, where we met up with Leon for the second wave.  
"I'll help out!" he told us, and we all three fought off the second wave. Upon finishing, Leon left. "Go!" We heeded his advice and ran further down where we met up with Tifa and a third wave of Heartless.  
"I'll help!" she said as she appeared. We defeated the third wave, and Tifa left. "Hurry! Go on ahead!" We ran through to the last section, where a fourth and final wave of Heartless struck. Cloud appeared with a burst of energy, and he stabbed his buster sword into the ground.  
"Sora, Shadow!" he yelled when he appeared. We fought the last wave, and Cloud leapt away without a word. Sora and I ran into the Crystal Fissure where we met up with the others.  
"Are you okay?" the King asked.  
"Yeah, we're fine, but…" we trailed off, not knowing how to finish our sentence.  
"Ohh, Goofy…" Donald whimpered. Suddenly, we heard Goofy!  
"Hey, fellas!" he called to us. We looked in shock as we saw Goofy waving to us at the entrance to the Crystal Fissure.  
"Goofy!" we all cried out joyfully. He ran over to us.  
"Ya know, that really hurt!" he told us. Mickey jumped up and hugged him.  
"Aw, Goofy!" the King said with relief.  
"Gawrsh, Yer Majesty, I get bumped on the head all the time," Goofy explained. Sora and I chuckled, and Donald stomped over to Goofy and slammed his staff into Goofy's shin, making him jump on one foot in pain. "That hurt, too!" he complained.  
"Don't you ever do that again!" Donald shrieked at him. Once our little reunion was over, we continued deeper into the Great Maw, where tons of Heartless stood idly. Mickey skidded to a stop, as did we.  
"Huh?" Mickey said, confused.  
"What's with them?" Sora and I wondered. Goofy suddenly saw something on the cliff.  
"Hey!" he said, pointing. A man in a black hooded coat appeared on the cliff, and he lowered his hood. He had dark silver hair and piercing orange eyes.  
"It's the guy who's NOT Ansem!" Donald yelped.  
"You mean it's his Nobody!" Goofy corrected.  
"The leader of Organization XIII…" Sora and I breathed.  
"Wait a minute. Now I know!" the King said. He remembered something, and said, "Now I remember! Xehanort! Ansem's apprentice! The leader of Organization XIII is Xehanort's Nobody!" He whipped out his Keyblade, and ran up the cliff.  
"Let's go!" Sora and I yelled to our friends. When we made to move, however, the Heartless began to close in. Sora summoned his Keyblade with a flash of light, and my claws glowed in response. "Move it!"  
"We can't let Xehanort get away!" Donald yelled.  
"Right!" we agreed. We glanced behind us at Donald and Goofy, and they each gave us a thumbs up. We each ran into our own group of Heartless to fight, however, Sora and I paired up. I grew in size so that Sora could ride on my back as we blazed through the swarm of Heartless. There were a thousand of them, and we fought hard, but when we finally finished off the last of them, we were breathing harshly. I struggled to stay standing, and I felt my legs trembling from the effort. Sora climbed off from my back, and I shrunk down to my normal size. Sora picked me up and placed me into his pocket where I tried to rest. After the Great Maw was cleared of Heartless, Sora and I continued through the cliffs. He paused to catch his breath as Donald and Goofy caught up to us. I peeped out from his pocket and crawled up to his shoulder.  
"Where's the King?" Sora asked them. We saw Mickey defeat an Armored Knight Heartless in a clearing ahead.  
"Look!" Donald shouted, pointing.  
"C'mon!" I cried out, and we ran over. When we got there, we saw Xehanort's Nobody standing at the edge, facing Maleficent's dark castle while the King stood behind him.  
"Your Majesty!" Donald called out to him. We ran over and joined the King.  
"Xehanort!" Mickey said.  
"How long has it been since I abandoned that name…" the leader murmured.  
"Out with it, Nobody! Where's Kairi? Where's Riku and Kurai?!" Sora and I demanded.  
"I know nothing of any Kairi. As for Riku and Kurai…Perhaps you should ask your king," he replied. He turned around to face us, and Sora and I looked from him to Mickey.  
"Stop!" the King shouted, and the man disappeared, Mickey leaping after him into the dark portal. They both vanished.  
"He's gone…" Sora and I whispered in horror. We slumped to the ground and Sora slammed his fist into the ground. I did the same, leaving a divot in the rock. Goofy placed his hands on our shoulders in reassurance.  
"Sora, Shadow, Goofy," Donald murmured.  
"What's goin' on?" Goofy wondered.  
"Way to fall right into their trap," a voice said from behind us. We looked and saw a man with flaming red spiked hair and green eyes leaning against the rock behind us. "C'mon, it's a set-up by Organization XIII. Xemnas is using you to destroy the Heartless—that's his big master plan."  
"Xemnas?" Donald repeated.  
"The guy you just saw," he explained. "He's their leader. Got it memorized? X-E-M, N-A-S."  
"Organization XIII wants to get rid of the Heartless?" Goofy guessed.  
"Man, you're slow," he said. He pointed to me and the Keyblade. "Every Heartless slain with that Keyblade and light releases a captive heart. That is what the Organization is after."  
"So what are those guys gonna do with the hearts?" Donald asked.  
"I'm not telling," he said.  
"Tell us!" Donald ordered.  
"You…you're the one who kidnapped Kairi!" Sora and I said in realization.  
"Bingo. The name's Axel. Got it memorized?" he confirmed, tapping his temple.  
"But where is Kairi?" Sora asked. Axel scratched his head, looking hesitant to answer. "Please. Just tell us!"  
"Look, about Kairi…I'm sorry," he apologized, looking upset.  
"Axel!" Saix's voice suddenly said out of nowhere. He appeared between us and Axel and the redhead panicked.  
"Uh-oh!" he said, and started to vanish, and Sora and I tried to run to him, but Saix held out his arm to stop us.  
"We'll make sure he receives the maximum punishment," Saix assured us. Axel was gone, and we couldn't talk to him now.  
"We don't care about any of that! Just let us into the realm of darkness, okay?!" Sora and I begged him.  
"If it's Kairi you're worried about, don't. We're taking very good care of her," he told us.  
"Take us to her," we pleaded.  
"Is she that important to you?" Saix inquired. I let Sora answer; I do care about Kairi, but not in the way that Sora does.  
"Yeah. More than anything," Sora answered.  
"Show me how important," he said. Sora thought, and we reacted the same way: we kneeled before him.  
"Please," we breathed.  
"So, you really do care for her. In that case…the answer is no," he said firmly. Sora leaped to his feet in anger, and I bared my fangs and snarled viciously.  
"You rotten…!" the brunette yelled furiously.  
"Are you angry? Do you hate me? Then take that rage, and direct it at the Heartless," he told us. He snapped his fingers, and several Armored Knight Heartless appeared behind him. He looked at the sky. "Pitiful Heartless, mindlessly collecting hearts. And yet they know not the true power of what they hold. The rage of the Keyblade and light releases those hearts." He held up his hands. "They gather in darkness, masterless and free…until they weave together to make Kingdom Hearts. And when that time comes, we can truly, finally exist."  
"What in the world do you think you're prattling on about?" Maleficent's voice demanded. She appeared behind us in a small wave of green flames. "Kingdom Hearts belongs to me! The heart of all kingdoms, the heart of all that lives. A dominion fit to be called Kingdom Hearts must be MY dominion!"  
"Maleficent, no! No more Heartless!" Sora and I begged her.  
"I do not take orders from you!" she snapped at us defiantly. She raised her staff and Soldier Heartless surrounded Saix.  
"Fool…" Saix muttered, and he snapped his fingers, making Nobodies appear and take down the Heartless. The Nobodies then turned their attention to me and Sora.  
"Oh no!" we gasped. Suddenly, Maleficent appeared between us and the Nobodies. She held her arms out, and a green aura wrapped around her. Green flames erupted between her and us, blocking our path.  
"While I keep these creatures at bay, you devise a way to vanquish them—forever!" she told us.  
"Maleficent…" we breathed.  
"Do not misunderstand. I shall have my revenge on you yet," she explained. The Dusks overtook her and pulled her down with their weight.  
"Maleficent!" we cried out.  
"Leave! Now!" she ordered us.  
"We don't take orders from you!" we said defiantly. Donald grabbed Sora and started to tug him gently.  
"Sora, Shadow! C'mon!" Donald said urgently.  
"But…what about…" Sora and I tried to argue. The flames died down and Maleficent was gone.  
"Now then. Where did we leave off?" Saix said. He snapped his fingers and the Nobodies disappeared and Heartless took their place.  
"Which side are you guys on anyway?" I demanded.  
"The Heartless ally with whoever's the strongest," Saix explained. He flicked a hand out towards me and Sora, and we effortlessly took them out, releasing hearts into the air. Saix smiled at the result. "Yes, Sora and Shadow! Extract more hearts!" He vanished and the hearts were sent to Kingdom Hearts.  
"No! The hearts!" Sora gasped. I growled in frustration. We were still surrounded by Heartless. An Armored Knight slammed its saber down at us, and Sora held it off with his Keyblade while I used my tail. "Maybe everything we've done…Maybe it was all for nothing. What are we supposed to do if we can't use the Keyblade and light?!" We knocked the Heartless back.  
"Imbeciles!" Maleficent's voice said, and we looked up. "You can't be trusted to do anything!"  
"Huh?" we said, confused. A pool of darkness appeared beneath the four of us, and we were pulled down into it. We found ourselves surrounded by blackness.  
"What's this place?" Goofy wondered.  
"It must be the Realm of Darkness!" Sora assumed. The two of us looked around, but saw nothing. "Kairi! Riku! Kurai!"  
"Who's there?!" Donald said out of nowhere, and we looked to see a man in a black coat with a smaller figure on his shoulder holding a white box. He ran over, but the man and figure disappeared, leaving the box. He picked up the box. I took a silent sniff of the box, and caught something that screamed familiar, but also reeked of darkness. I couldn't quite place my claw on the familiar part, though. "What is it?" Donald wondered.  
"Are ya sure ya wanna open…" Goofy started, but Donald opened the box. "…that?" Inside were a photograph and a sea-salt ice cream bar. Donald handed the photo to Sora and I.  
"Gawrsh, it's the gang from Twilight Town," Goofy realized. "There's Hayner, Pence, Olette…and, uh, um…"  
"Roxas and Night," Sora and I finished.  
"You both know them?" Donald asked.  
"No…The names just popped into our heads…This is Roxas and Night," we explained. Donald held up the ice cream bar.  
"Are ya sure ya wanna eat…" Goofy said, but Donald tasted it. "…that?" Donald pulled it out of his mouth.  
"Salty…No…Sweet!" he said. The ice cream bar rose into the air, and Sora's Keyblade appeared and my claws flashed in response. We unlocked the next gateway.  
"Not yet! We gotta look for Kairi!" Sora and I protested. Back in the Gummi Ship, we contemplated the clues we were given.  
"A photo and some ice cream? Hmm. Wonder if they're some sorta clue. And who woulda left 'em for us, anyway?" Goofy murmured.  
"Riku and Kurai?" Sora and I guessed.  
"Ya think?" Goofy replied.  
"Just this feeling we got," we told him.  
"Look! We're almost there!" Donald alerted us.  
"Hey, what if the Heartless are back again?" Sora and I wondered. "We can't use the Keyblade and light—that would only help the Organization."  
"But Sora and Shadow, I think ya have to use them," Goofy said. "If we don't fight 'em, the Heartless'll keep on hurtin' folks." We soon returned to the next world, and it was familiar. We were about to land in the Land of Dragons.


	17. Back To The Land Of Dragons!

A/N: And now for the return to The Land Of Dragons! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 17

Back To The Land Of Dragons! But…Riku? Kurai?

We arrived at the burned village in the Land of Dragons, walking our way through the destruction.  
"I wonder how everybody's doin'?" Goofy wondered aloud as we walked.  
"Look!" Donald alerted us to a man in black with a small figure with him at the edge of the town. He ran as soon as we saw him.  
"Wait!" Sora and I yelled, and started to run after him.  
"Sora! Shadow!" Mulan's voice rang out, and we looked and saw her running towards us.  
"Mulan, hey. No time to talk. We gotta catch those guys!" I said hurriedly.  
"I'm following them, too!" she told us.  
"Then let's go!" Donald said. We ran up to the ridge and looked around. Mulan tapped on Sora's shoulder, and I felt it, too. She pointed to the cloaked man and figure running up to the summit, and we swiftly chased after him.  
"Looks like they got away," Mulan remarked with a frown.  
"How come you're after somebody from Organization XIII?" Goofy asked her.  
"What is that?" she questioned, puzzled.  
"The guys in black," I told her.  
"One of the bad guys!" Donald agreed.  
"I knew it!" she said suddenly. "There's a rumor in the Imperial City about two spies in black, lurking in the mountains. I'd been up here, tracking them, but when you arrived, I lost them."  
"Sorry!" Goofy apologized.  
"Don't apologize. But I do wonder where they went," Mulan said. We all followed her gaze to the peak, where, after a moment, a multitude of Rapid Thruster Heartless appeared.  
"Again?" Donald groaned.  
"Okay, first things first!" Sora said, and we started to run ahead, but stopped when the two of us felt the urge to do so. The other three continued on ahead. Sora and I whipped around and saw the cloaked man and figure standing in the snow behind us. Sora pointed his Keyblade at them while I jumped down, my guard up and my claws out. "Hey! You! Quit sneaking around!" They pointed behind us, and we turned just in time to smack away a Heartless. We turned back to the man, who had taken out a wing-like sword, and the figure had started to emit a slight flow of dark energy. We fought them, but I noticed they were trying to keep their distance from me. I had no idea why, at least until I caught a whiff of them. It was the same familiar yet dark scents as before, when in the darkness we had gotten the clue at. After we had fought them for a while, the man held up a hand as if to say, 'Why stop?' They fled back down the mountain, and Sora and I gave chase. I almost considered using my full speed, but didn't. Something told me to not do it.  
"Those guys…No…Why…would they? Riku? Kurai?" Sora said as we paused. I whimpered slightly at the mere mention of our friends' names. We tried to run after them again, but lost track. There would be no way for me to track them, either. The snow made it impossible to track. Donald and Goofy soon found as, as did Mulan.  
"Are you okay, Sora and Shadow?" Donald asked.  
"Did ya get 'em?" Goofy asked.  
"Hmm…Oh—they're gone," we said quietly.  
"What?! You both lost them?" Donald demanded.  
"Anyway…What now?" Sora asked, folding his hands behind his head.  
"I think we better get rid of all the Heartless first," Goofy suggested. Donald nodded in agreement, but a sudden rumbling made us jump.  
"What was that?" Mulan wondered. "Come on, we better get off the mountain."  
"Okay," I agreed. Sora and I took one last glance at the Summit, and then turned back around and walked with our friends to the Ridge. When we got to the Ridge, all of a sudden, the mountain shook even harder than before, and a gigantic Storm Rider Heartless exploded from the snow. It roared and flew away from the mountain and headed to the city.  
"It's heading for the city! We've got to warn Shang!" Mulan told us urgently. We ran down the mountain, through the Mountain Trail, past the Checkpoint, and into the Imperial Square.  
"Huh? Everything's fine," Sora assumed. We turned as the other soldiers approached us.  
"Well, now…Look who decided to show up," Yao commented.  
"What? Is that a problem?" Donald said with a hint of a threat in his voice.  
"Nah!" Ling replied, dismissing it.  
"We're just glad you're not in black coats," Chien-Po told us.  
"You saw him?" Mulan gasped.  
"Yeah—he's in the palace," Yao informed us. We ran to the palace, fighting several Heartless in the square and defeating them.  
"To the palace! Hurry!" Mulan rushed us. We ran to the Palace Gate, but it was locked. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I banged on the doors with our fists.  
"Open up!" Sora yelled. Mulan looked to the pillar next to her, and I swear, I saw an idea hatch in her mind. "Open up!" Sora yelled again, and pulled on the door handles, placing a foot on it to pull it open.  
"Over here!" Mulan said, and ran to the pillar.  
"Huh?" Goofy said. We followed Goofy over to the pillar. Goofy jumped onto it and started climbing. Donald followed suit, only he slid a few inches, and then started climbing. Sora started climbing next, and I latched on with my claws and began to climb, too. Mulan started to climb last, and Sora and I looked back down to see if she was climbing all right, which she was, so we continued. Suddenly, she lost her grip and started to fall; Sora reached out to catch her, but she quickly latched back on and started climbing again. Soon after our climb, we reached the Antechamber and dropped down to the floor. Donald landed on his stomach, and I winced from watching it; it looked painful, but he quickly got back up. We saw a cloaked figure standing before the doors at the end of the Antechamber.  
"Wait!" Mulan shouted at him. The person flinched at the sound. Sora and I slowly approached him, hoping it was our dear friend.  
"…Riku? Kurai?" Sora and I said hesitantly. Donald and Goofy looked at each other, confused. The man pulled down his hood, revealing a scar, eye patch, and long black hair with a grey stripe pulled back in a ponytail.  
"No. Never heard of him," the man said, and we learned his name was Xigbar. Suddenly, Sniper Nobodies surrounded us, and distracted us all. When Sora and I looked back to the doors, he was gone. We fought the Nobodies, and once beaten, Donald and Goofy spoke to us.  
"Guess it wasn't Riku or Kurai," Goofy remarked.  
"Sorry, Sora and Shadow. I can't stay. I'm worried about Shang," Mulan said, reminding us.  
"Oh! Right!" we said, remembering. We entered the Throne Room and found the Emperor sitting upon his throne with Shang standing nearby.  
"Your Excellency! Shang! Something terrible has happened!" Mulan said in a panic. "We saw a huge monster fly out of the mountains and toward the city!"  
"Ahh. So it is as the young men said. Isn't that right, Captain?" the Emperor said.  
"Y-yes, Your Excellency," Shang replied.  
"You see, two young strangers visited us not long ago. The Captain fought the visitors, but was quickly defeated," the Emperor explained.  
"To my dishonor," Shang said.  
"It seems that the young men in black were the ones I have heard whispers about," the Emperor continued.  
"Did he mention the name Riku?" Sora asked eagerly.

"Or Kurai?" I added.  
"They didn't offer their names. He was rather rude," he replied.  
"Rude? Then it WAS Riku and Kurai!" Sora said excitedly.  
"Riku and Kurai are in the Organization?" I heard Donald ask Goofy quietly behind us.  
"Gawrsh…" Goofy murmured back in surprise.  
"But why would they come here?" Mulan asked us. Out of nowhere, a huge rumble shook the palace. We turned to leave.  
"Mulan!" Shang said worriedly.  
"Shang—guard the Emperor! I'll be fine—with them!" she assured him.  
"Th-that's right!" Sora stammered and I chuckled.  
"Indeed. That is true: We need not worry while you protect us," the Emperor agreed.  
"Hurry!" Donald rushed us. We returned to the Antechamber, where we gathered in front of the doors. Mulan opened the gate, but the Storm Rider flew right up to the open door, scaring her and making her back away in fright. Sora and I each placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as it flew away. We ran outside where it was gliding in the sky above the square. All of a sudden, it gathered strength and swooped down over us. We all dodged by diving to the ground. Sora and I raced after it and grabbed onto its hooked tail. The others quickly followed suit, and we all rode on the back of the Storm Rider, at least until it flipped, dropping us all to the ground. We all fought it long and hard, but eventually it was finished. It started to fall directly over Mulan.  
"Mulan!" Shang cried out, and raced over to her just as the Heartless came down. A giant heart flew out of the creature and disappeared into the sky. The Heartless vanished, leaving Shang holding Mulan.  
"Way to go!" Sora and I cheered. Shang helped Mulan to her feet, and the pair smiled at each other. They looked at Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I and then back to each other. They suddenly realized they were still holding hands and let go, looking embarrassed. We returned to the Throne Room where we spoke with the Emperor.  
"Once again, you have served China well. It would please me to reward you," he told us. Donald shook his hands gleefully. "What is it that you wish?" Goofy's stomach rumbled and I sighed, knowing what Sora would want, so I nodded to him encouragingly.  
"Well…You say two guys in black came to see you. What did they say?" Sora asked.  
"That is all you request?" the Emperor asked, seeming surprised. Donald and Goofy looked like they were going to say something.  
"Yes," Sora confirmed, and Donald and Goofy hung their heads. I shot them a look that read, 'Shut it. He needs this.'  
"Dragons have crossed our land and left a great web of paths. These dragons wield much power, and they are the source of many gifts to both man and nature," he began, and I chuckled quietly. He had NO idea how close the worlds were to utter destruction when I lived in my home world. "But it would seem someone of evil intent disturbed one of our dragons, and transformed it into what you call a Heartless. It is of my belief that these young men came to warn me of that danger. Then, I could alert and prepare my troops."  
"Did you?" I asked.  
"I was about to, but they told me the situation had changed," he replied, chuckling.  
"They said four 'wise guys' had arrived, and they would take care of things," Shang chimed in.  
"That's gotta be Riku and Kurai!" Sora cried out excitedly and I smiled with him.  
"But what's he doin' hangin' out with Organization XIII?" Goofy wondered.  
"No idea. But at least we finally know they're okay," I said. "That's good enough."  
"Yeah, that's good!" Donald agreed.  
"Now then, Fa Mulan. Do you have a request?" the Emperor asked her.  
"I'd like Shang…I-I mean…well…The Captain…" she said, trailing off.  
"Yes, yes, my dear. What is it?" he pressed.  
"Could the Captain have a vacation, please?" she asked and Shang looked surprised.  
"I hardly expected such humble requests," the Emperor said, chuckling. "In this case, I'm afraid I must refuse. Captain Li's responsibility is to protect the Emperor. And yet, Mulan…Would you like to serve alongside him and protect me?"  
"Huh?" Shang said.  
"What?" Mulan said as well, and they were both surprised.  
"Two reeds together are stronger than one," he explained. "But the choice is yours alone."  
"Thank you, Your Excellency!" she said happily. Shang walked up to her and smiled, and I noticed that Sora was getting slightly teary-eyed. He quickly wiped his eyes as Donald and Goofy walked over. We stopped them before they could go over to the pair, and looked to Mulan and Shang. Shang placed his arm around Mulan's shoulder and they looked into each other's eyes and nodded. We left, Sora and I satisfied that the Land of Dragons would be safe now.


	18. Return To Beast's Castle!

A/N: And now, on to Chapter 18! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 18

Return To Beast's Castle! Xaldin's Return As Well…

We arrived in Beast's Castle, returning to check on things. We entered the castle to find Beast pacing back and forth in the Entrance Hall while wearing a fancy suit. One that fit him properly, anyway.  
"Hey there!" Sora called in greeting. Donald looked around.  
"No Heartless and no Nobodies!" he confirmed.  
"I think they're close, though…" Goofy murmured.  
"Better watch out!" Sora warned. Beast sighed in frustration.  
"What are you so mad about?" Donald asked.  
"Why are you here?" he asked.  
"The Nobodies' world has to be out there somewhere. We're looking for a way in," I explained with a shrug.  
"Hmph," Beast grumbled. Belle soon started walking down the east staircase. "Tonight is very important," he told us. Beast walked up the stairs and met Belle at the entrance to the Ballroom, where they bowed to each other. She took his arm, and he led her to the Ballroom.  
"Uh, maybe we came at a bad time," Goofy commented.  
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Donald said, and he ran up the stairs after them.  
"Donald!" Sora and I yelled after him. We had no choice but to follow after him. When in there, Beast and Belle gazed into each other's eyes while standing in the middle of the Ballroom.  
"Now then, Monsieur, Mademoiselle. Please, enjoy the evening," Lumiere told them as we walked into the Ballroom. They noticed us and smiled. "And of course, our honored guests are welcome, too."  
"A welcome indeed," a very familiar, but unwelcome, voice said. Belle, scared, hugged Beast closer to her. Beast looked up at the railing above the dance floor, and Sora and I ran further into the ballroom and turned around to see a cloaked man standing behind the railing.  
"The Organization!" Sora gasped.  
"You don't when to quit," Xaldin said.  
"Oh yeah?! We'll show you!" Donald yelled angrily.  
"Get out!" Beast snarled, leaving Belle and running toward Xaldin. Belle glared at Xaldin.  
"Not tonight!" she said. Xaldin snapped his fingers and several Dragoon Nobodies appeared. Beast ran through and swiped them with a roar.  
"I've come to take something you hold very dear," Xaldin told Beast. Beast bellowed furiously at his statement. "Yes. Let your anger grow…" Xaldin disappeared, leaving us to deal with the Dragoons.  
"Beast! We have to get rid of these guys first!" I yelled to him. We fought off the Nobodies, and the castle servants hurried Belle out to the balcony, away from the fight. Once we finished, we looked about.  
"Where's Belle?!" Sora demanded.  
"Over here!" she said, and came back inside.  
"Whew, she's okay," I sighed with relief.  
"Guess Xaldin didn't take anything after all," Goofy assumed. Beast suddenly looked up, realizing something, and took off racing out of the room.  
"What's wrong?" Sora and I asked. Belle ran out after him. "Belle? What's with them?"  
"Maybe Belle isn't the only thing precious to the Beast," Goofy suggested.  
"C'mon!" Donald said, and we hurried off to Beast's Room in the West Wing. When we got there, Beast was pacing back and forth, and he was extremely agitated. He roared and slammed the floor with his clawed hands.  
"What's wrong?" Belle asked. She stepped forward to him. "Please, calm down!" Beast swung to face her, and she held up her hands.  
"Calm down?! You just had to have a party, didn't you? Don't you see what's happened?" he snarled at her.  
"Hey. What's with you?" Sora demanded.  
"The rose…My rose…" he muttered, looking upset.  
"What, that? He took it?" Sora said, confused.  
"But surely, you can find another rose…" Belle said timidly.  
"Silence! You don't know anything!" Beast snarled at her, swiping at the air in front of her. Sora and I stepped between the pair, and I was bristling on the brunette's shoulder.  
"That's not fair, Beast. Don't take it out on Belle. It's not like she stole it!" we said, defending her. Beast put his hand on his forehead.  
"I'm sorry," Belle apologized.  
"You don't have to apologize," I assured her, glancing at her out of the corner of my eyes.  
"But…" she murmured. Beast turned away from us.  
"Belle….Sora and Shadow…I want you to leave the castle," he told us. Belle watched him, not sure what to say. "Look at me. Look. This is what I am. When you first got here, I tried to change." He looked at his hands. "But I was only fooling myself. I can't be any different. I'll always be a beast. So, I should live like a beast. With no one, alone. Goodbye, Belle."  
"You can't mean that…" she breathed. Beast said nothing, but she reached out her hand to him.  
"I think his mind's all mind up," Goofy muttered to me and Sora.  
"Yeah," we whispered back. Belle turned away. "Look, Belle. Leave this to us. If we can get the Beast's rose back, he'll calm down." She nodded, turned to look at Beast one last time, then left. Mrs. Potts, Cogsworth, and Lumiere were in the West Wing, and as Belle passed them, she gave a solemn wave.  
"Poor child…" Mrs. Potts murmured. The four of us went out of the room and met with them.  
"How could it have come to this?" Cogsworth wondered.  
"And they were so looking forward to this evening…" Lumiere added.  
"Now, now—no need to be so sad," Mrs. Potts told them. "Once the rose is back safely, this will all be over."  
"What's so special about one rose, anyway?" Sora asked them.  
"If the master can love and be loved in return, the spell will be broken. We'll all be human again," Cogsworth reminded us.  
"Yeah. You told us," Donald said as we all remembered.  
"But there is a time limit," Lumiere explained. "He must find his true love before the last petal falls from that rose."  
"Ah, but that is not all…Over time, caring for that rose has become a cherished part of the master's daily life," Cogsworth added.  
"It's as though all his hopes and dreams are tied to that single bloom…" Mrs. Potts murmured.  
"Poor Beast! Then we have to get it back," Sora and I said determinedly.  
"Please do!" Mrs. Potts begged.  
"We can't do it without the Beast, though. If it's that important to him, he's got to do it himself," we said. Donald and Goofy nodded in agreement. We returned to Beast's Room where we spoke to him. "Hey, Beast."  
"Leave me alone," he sighed.  
"C'mon, you need to hear this," we insisted. "You used to be fearless. You would have given your life to save Belle. Don't you know what that meant to us? You gave us all courage. Hmph, maybe you should have kept some for yourself. We mean, are you really gonna throw your happiness away? The rose is your only hope, isn't it? Well, it's the only hope for Cogsworth and the others, too. So, don't throw away your last chance. Remember what it was like before Belle lived here?" Beast looked up at the moon through the glass window, remembering. "See? You can't give up. Not now."  
"I know one thing," he said.  
"What?"  
"This castle belongs to me. Xaldin will never be welcome here," he growled. We all nodded and returned to the Entrance Hall.  
"So, Beast…you came after all," Xaldin's voice said. We looked, and saw Xaldin standing high at a stained glass window, holding the enchanted rose. "You had me worried. I was afraid you'd given up for good."  
"What do you guys really want?" I demanded. His answer sent a chill down my spine.  
"…Kingdom Hearts," he said, and removed his hood. "When Kingdom Hearts is ours, we can exist fully and completely. So you see, Beast—that's why we need your Heartless AND your Nobody!" We fought the Nobodies that appeared, and once they were gone, Xaldin floated down from the high pedestal. He looked back at us with a slight scowl and left through the front door. We walked out into the Courtyard, and Goofy looked up and saw Belle on the balcony outside her window.  
"Huh?" Goofy said. She sighed, and I watched as she looked into the Courtyard, saw us, and started to head back inside. She looked to the spot on the balcony next to her.  
"Is that…" she said curiously, and I was barely able to hear her, her voice was so quiet. She picked up the rose and called down to us. "Look! It's the rose!" Beast looked up, but a gloved hand covered Belle's mouth. She struggled, but Xaldin held her firmly.  
"Belle!" Beast shouted in panic. Xaldin grabbed Belle, who was still holding the rose, and leaped from the balcony to the bridge.  
"Hurry!" Sora yelled. We ran through the arc, Beast shoving the door open with his shoulder. We ran ahead along the Bridge, but as we got close, we skidded to a stop.  
"You! Get out of my castle, now!" Beast yelled furiously at Xaldin.  
"With pleasure, but I'd rather travel light…" he said, looking from the rose to Belle. "What shall I leave behind? Belle? Or the rose?" Beast growled furiously.  
"Belle!" he cried out, and he charged at Xaldin. What happened next caught everyone off guard: Belle elbowed Xaldin in the gut, grabbed the rose and ran for it. My jaw dropped to what I felt was the ground, but was actually just my normal capacities.  
"Good one, Belle!" Sora cheered her as she ran past us. Beast charged at Xaldin again and swiped at him, but Xaldin jumped back out of the way with ease. He threw his hands up, creating six small pillars of wind. Lightning thundered through them, and Xaldin lowered his arms, clearing the dust swirling in the pillars and revealing six spears. They all teleported into the air above him, and he caught two in each hand, leaving the other two to hover in a wind tunnel behind him. We fought against Xaldin, and Sora and I ended up using Master Form, and when we did, Sora's clothes became golden with black crosses as the pattern. I, on the other hand, became golden all over, just like topaz, and my eyes shone like liquid gold. I felt a surge of strength as well a surge of magical power. I knew Sora could feel the same. We used the combination of strength and magic to defeat Xaldin. Once beaten, Xaldin flew back, and his six spears pierced into the ground. They all six disappeared in shafts of white light, and Xaldin screamed in agony as he faded into nothing. Once it was all over, the castle servants came out. Belle handed the rose to Beast.  
"Here. It's yours again," she told him and he accepted the rose.  
"Belle…" he began.  
"I know. You want me to leave the castle," she assumed.  
"What matters is…You weren't hurt by Xaldin…You're safe. And…I'm very grateful to you…for bringing the rose back to me. Thank you," he told her.  
"It's the least I could do," she replied with a smile. "You've been good to me. And you didn't have to be." Beast placed the rose on the ground.  
"Listen, Belle…" he started.  
"Yes?" Beast looked like he was struggling, and he looked to us for some help.  
"Say it!" Sora and I urged.  
"Go on!" Lumiere pressed.  
"C'mon!" Donald rushed.  
"You can do it!" Mrs. Potts told him.  
"We have confidence," Cogsworth assured him.  
"Don't be bashful, now," Goofy finally said. Beast looked back to Belle.  
"Belle, I'd like you to stay…With me…Please?" he told her. Belle smiled and held her hand out. Beast understood and placed a hand on her waist and the other on her hand.  
"I will," she said and Beast smiled.  
"Maestro—music!" Lumiere said, and the music started as the pair began to dance.  
"Hey, did you see the look on Belle's face when she grabbed that rose?" I asked, and chuckled to myself.  
"Yep, she sure was havin' fun, all right," Goofy agreed.  
"She is rather unique, isn't she?" Lumiere commented.  
"Always ready for a little adventure," Mrs. Potts remarked.  
"The two of them do seem made for each other," Cogsworth added.  
"Yeah, they sure do!" Sora agreed. The pair continued to dance, and Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I returned to the Gummi Ship, feeling that this world would be at peace.


	19. Return To Olympus Coliseum!

A/N: And now, for chapter 19! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 19

Back To Olympus Coliseum! Auron's Acting Strange, Though…

We ended up back in the Underworld, and when we arrived, we looked around.  
"Well?" Sora pressed.  
"The coast is clear!" Goofy declared.  
"No sign of the Nobodies or the Heartless…for now, anyway," I said ominously. We saw a stadium across the Styx River that was all lit up.  
"What's that?" Donald wondered.  
"The Underdrome. Fiends of the Underworld once clashed there—battle after battle. But Zeus didn't like the senseless violence, so he locked the place up," Auron explained as he approached.  
"How did it get UN-locked?" I wondered.  
"Some fool must have broken the seal," he replied.  
"What an idiot," Sora said.  
"Hmph," Auron grunted, and he began to leave.  
"Where are you going, Auron? We should catch up!" Sora called after him.  
"If you need something to do, go help your friends," he said. We looked to the entrance to Olympus Coliseum and saw Hercules and Meg. We looked back and Auron was gone. We walked over to the pair.  
"Hey," Herc said weakly.  
"Herc! You feeling any better?" Sora asked him.  
"Well…same routine. Wonderboy here thinks his hero days are over," Meg explained. "And Phil thinks it's all in his head."  
"Gawrsh, Herc. We know you're a hero!" Goofy reassured him.  
"That's right…Blunderboy. How can you mope on a momentous day like today?" Hades' voice said, and he appeared in a puff of smoke. "The Underdrome's back, and you are gonna fill the stands. After all, your fans won't settle for anything less than a certified hero." Hercules started to get angry, but gave up after a second. Hades placed his arm on Herc's shoulder. "I mean, if you're not up to it, you could always just, I dunno, LOSE?"  
"I bet you'd like that!" Sora snapped at him, and I bristled angrily from his shoulder.  
"Excuse me? I'm not a selfish guy. I'm not like those high and mighty snobs up on Olympus," Hades claimed. "I stand for the masses! And have I got a massive idea! The games, ladies and gentlemen…are back! Yours truly, Hades—the one and only Lord of the Dead—brings you the ultimate games, to celebrate the re-opening of the ultimate coliseum! We'll finally answer the age-old question: Who deserves the title 'Ultimate Hero'? These games are gonna settle the debate once and for all! The winner reigns supreme. Of what? You guessed it! The Hades Cup! And I assure you the 'great' Hercules will be there. Otherwise…" Hades looked at Meg, and Hercules covered her. "You'll never see your girlfriend again."  
"Lowlife," I muttered as Hades vanished in another puff of smoke.  
"You're too kind, kid," Hades replied from somewhere. We signed up for the Hades Cup with Hercules, and then looked at the tournament board.  
"Who do we face first?" Herc asked.  
"Let's see…" Sora said as we studied the board.  
"It's 'Spin Strike'," Goofy read aloud.  
"Look! Auron's in the tournament, too!" Donald pointed out.  
"Uh-oh! We might have to fight him in the finals!" Goofy realized.  
"I bet he's a real hero, huh?" Herc said, depressed.  
"Well, we don't think he's a bad guy…But you're the only hero around here, Hercules. You know that," Sora said.  
"Maybe before…Now I'm just a washout…" he said sadly.  
"Stop that!" I snapped at him. I was starting to get tired of it. Now I know what my friends went through back in my home world when I had my injuries. We went through, fought, and won in the first round.  
"How'd it go out there, champ?" Sora asked him.  
"I'm just not what I used to be. Sorry to drag you down, guys," Hercules replied.  
"Don't throw in the towel yet, Herc! We need you in the semifinals!" Sora encouraged him. We chose to continue in the tournament, and looked at the tier board.  
"We're at the semifinals…" Goofy murmured.  
"Wak! Against 'Bad Alert'?!" Donald yelped.  
"Are they any good?" Herc asked, sounding like he wasn't really in it.  
"It sounds like they're 'bad'…but we can't chicken out now!" I said determinedly. We fought through the second round and were named as the winners.  
"We made it to the finals!" Sora cheered.  
"If we win, we'll all be heroes!" Donald said gleefully.  
"Oh, that's why you're so happy," Goofy realized.  
"We can't stay junior heroes forever, you know," Sora pointed out to him.  
"I'll try not to mess things up," Herc muttered.  
"Enough already…" Donald groaned. I smacked my forehead and groaned as well.  
"Look. Over there," Hercules said suddenly, and we looked to see Auron standing by the door. "He's our final opponent, right?"  
"Auron!" Sora and I called to him. I noticed he had a reddish aura to him, but it faded away when he turned around.  
"And you are?" he asked.  
"Huh?" Sora and I said, perplexed.  
"Auron?" Donald said.  
"I must defeat you and atone for my crimes," he said. He turned and left.  
"Hey! What was that all about?" Sora wondered. Auron entered the Cave of the Dead, and we followed him in. We quickly hid, however, when we spotted Auron with Hades.  
"Okay, let's review. State your crime, prisoner," Hades was telling Auron.  
"I exist. That is my crime. It is…inexcusable," Auron said. He sounded like he was brainwashed.  
"Ooh, good, very good," Hades praised.  
"What's wrong with Auron? He's never acted that way before," Sora whispered, and I quickly hushed him by slapping my tail over his mouth.  
"Okay, so you made one lousy mistake: you exist. But hey, I'm a forgiving guy. You keep your end of our little deal, and I'm willing to overlook a transgression or two," Hades told him.  
"I understand. Defeat Hercules," Auron said, still with a zoned-out look.  
"And his meddling friends," Hades added.  
"What? No, only Hercules," Auron argued. Hades leaned his elbow on Auron's shoulder.  
"Oh, don't tell me you've forgotten who's in charge?" he said, and placed his hand on Auron's shoulder, and several pyreflies swirled around it. Auron groaned in pain as Hades pulled out a little statue of him. "Hercules and the other four. Are we clear?"  
"We're clear, Hades," Auron growled.  
"Lord Hades," Hades corrected.  
"Lord Hades…" Auron grunted. Hades let go of him.  
"Good. Now go," he ordered. We quickly ducked as Auron turned to leave.  
"So that's how he's controlling Auron!" I whispered in realization.  
"What a jerk!" Donald said irritably.  
"He'd probably think that was a compliment," Goofy pointed out to Donald.  
"We can't stand seeing Auron do that lowlife's bidding…We've got to help him!" Sora said determinedly. Auron left the cave, passing us as we hid. "C'mon, let's go after him!" Auron got into the boat with Pain and Panic, setting out for the Underdrome.  
"What's wrong, Sora and Shadow?" Hercules asked as he approached.  
"Auron's in trouble! It's like Hades brainwashed him!" Sora explained.  
"He's using some kind of a statue," Goofy added.  
"You know something? That sounds kinda familiar…Hades may be using the statue to hold Auron's free will hostage," Herc told us.  
"What do we do?" Donald asked.  
"See if you can find that statue. It's gotta be somewhere in the Underworld," he said.  
"Right. We're on it!" Sora and I told him.  
"Tell me you're not thinking of leaving," Hades said, suddenly appearing beside us. "You've got a match coming up."  
"I'll fight Auron in the final. One on one," Herc offered.  
"Oh, you will?" Hades said, and he looked worried. He turned around to think.  
"I'll draw things out to buy you time," Herc whispered to me and Sora and Hades pondered his options.  
"But—" we tried to protest.  
"Just hurry back. I know you both can do it!" he assured us.  
"Congratulations! You've got a deal," Hades said, turning around.  
"Thanks," Hercules replied with a cold edge to his voice.  
"On one condition! The Keyblader, his 'dragon', here, and their trusty friends have to meet the winner in one final clash, whaddya say?" Hades said.  
"That'll drive the crowd wild…" Herc muttered.  
"It'd better. I promised the crowd the event of their afterlives," Hades told him. Pain and Panic arrived back with the boat, and Hercules and Hades climbed in. They sailed off, Herc waving to us. "Sucker! You know, the rest for me is smooth sailing."  
Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I made our way through the Cave of the Dead, and eventually all the way to Hades' Chamber. We spotted the figurine of Auron on the stone table.  
"Got it!" Sora said, and we ran over to it and grabbed it, but we got shocked by energy. Unable to let go, we struggled to bear the power of the energy flowing into us. Goofy touched us to help, but also got shocked.  
"Huh?" Donald said, confused. He touched Goofy and got shocked as well. "What's going on?!" We started to hear Auron's thoughts and memories once the energy flow stopped.  
"It is not too late! Let us turn back! Yes, but I…I cannot accept it. Where is the sense in all this? But…there must be another way! Your deaths will mean nothing! You must live!" his voice said in our minds.  
"I get it. This is what belongs in Auron's heart," Sora realized.  
"Gawrsh, he musta had a pretty rough life," Goofy said sadly.  
"Yeah…but in the end, that's really what made him stronger," I pointed out.  
"Let's give it back!" Donald said, but we were suddenly surrounded by Dusks.  
"Nobodies? Where did they come from?" the brunette wondered. We began to fight off the Dusks, but soon there were too many.  
"Hey, go away!" Donald yelled at them. Out of nowhere, though, Heartless appeared and they began to fight the Nobodies.  
"Not what we had in mind, but we'll take it!" Sora and I said.  
"We better skedaddle!" Goofy told us, and we ran for it. We soon got to the Underdrome, where Hercules and Auron were still duking it out.  
"Now! Finish him!" Hades ordered as we ran in.  
"Auron, no!" Sora and I cried out in protest.  
"Hey, Auron! This belongs to you!" Donald yelled, and Sora threw the figurine over the battlefield. It burst over Auron, and he regained his free will. He stopped fighting and lowered his sword to the ground. Hercules took that chance to try and catch his breath.  
"Sora. Shadow. Donald. Goofy," Auron said.  
"Auron!" we all cheered happily.  
"Why those little—" Hades said furiously to himself, turning red. He calmed down and turned blue again quickly. "Ugh, prisoner! What happened to our mutual agreement? I can give you a clean slate, but you gotta work with me."  
"Maybe you didn't hear me," Auron replied calmly. "This is my story, and you're not part of it." Hades exploded with a pillar of flames and disappeared form his chair, reappearing on the battlefield.  
"That's it! This game is over. I've played by the rules so far," he said, enraged. "Okay, I confess! I was hoping Wonderboy would lose, but it was still a fair fight. C'mon, is that really so wrong? Huh?"  
"Really? A fair right?" Sora and I asked Donald and Goofy, and they laughed.  
"Laugh, laugh, laugh all you want!" Hades snapped at us, and mocked laughed. "Because the laughing is about to stop. Wanna know why? Because now we're gonna play by my rules." He grinned cruelly as he snapped his fingers, and a stone gate opened up, revealing a swirling green vortex. Meg suddenly vanished with a scream, and reappeared above the vortex, suspended by clouds of smoke.  
"Meg!" Hercules cried out desperately.  
"Hercules!" Meg shrieked.  
"Hey, I warned you right at the get-go," Hades reminded him. "You don't compete, you lose the girl." He snapped his finger again, and Meg dropped into the river of death.  
"No!" Hercules shouted, and he ran past Hades, pushing him away. "Meg! Hang on!" He jumped in to save her, and Hades looked to see that he was in.  
"Looks like Wonderboy has dropped out of the standings," Hades said smugly as the stone gate closed behind him. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Auron, and I glared at him. I bristled with rage as I glared.  
"Well, you've still got us to deal with!" Sora pointed out to him. Hades teleported behind us.  
"Oh, yeah. This is gonna be good," Hades said very cockily. He turned red, ready to fight. We started to fight him, but he didn't feel a thing. He laughed at our efforts.  
"We can't win!" Sora cried out.  
"How come?" Donald asked.  
"Because it's his Underworld," Auron explained.  
"Gee, then how do we beat him?" Goofy wondered. Hades got ready for another attack, but there was a sudden rumbling. We looked and saw the stone gate was open, but no one was there.  
"I think a true hero should be able to help," Hercules's voice said, and we looked to see him standing nearby, holding Meg. He had a bright glow to him.  
"But…you…" Hades spluttered.  
"I owe you one, Hades," Herc said, smiling. "I didn't hesitate to give my life for Meg's. And then I remembered:" Pegasus landed next to him. "A true hero is measured by the strength of his heart." He set Meg down. "I'll never forget that again."  
"Just no more crazy stunts," Sora told him.  
"People always do crazy things when they're in love," he told me and Sora. Donald and Goofy joined in on our laughter as Pegasus flew away with Meg on his back.  
"What are you laughing at, you imbeciles! How dare you get a happy ending! How DARE you!" Hades shrieked at us. We fought a rough and tough battle against Hades, and eventually won. Hades clutched his chest, and Sora and I struck at him one last time, but Hades teleported to the edge of the river of death. He backed away from us slowly. "It's…not over…yet…" he struggled to say. He suddenly tripped over the edge, and plummeted down into the river. Later, we met up with Auron.  
"What'cha gonna do now?" Donald asked him.  
"I lived my life defending others," he told us. "But now…there's no one left to protect. Maybe…it's time I shaped my own story."  
"Yeah…You deserve it, Auron—after everything you've been through," I said. He chuckled.  
"I suppose I should thank you," Auron said.  
"Not at all," Sora said proudly.  
"Fine," he said, and turned to leave. We slumped forward from the irony. "I mean, sure, you could thank us a little…"  
"You should say what you mean," Auron replied. He turned back around to face us. "I guess I could spare a few words. Thanks for meddling." We slumped again.  
"Hey, what's that mean?" Sora demanded. Auron walked away, smirking. Later, we all met under a full moon night sky.  
"Thanks again, guys! You're the best," Herc told us.  
"Excuse us for meddling…" Donald muttered.  
"Aw…sounds like somebody's feathers are a little ruffled," Meg teased. "I'm kidding. Thank you, Sora, Shadow, Donald, Goofy."  
"So where you guys headed next?" Herc asked.  
"Aw, you know…You two lovebirds seem to be getting along just fine without us around," I teased. Hercules and Meg looked at each other, then separate, slightly embarrassed. It was funny, though. They couldn't stop looking back at each other and smiling.  
"Yeah, we gotta go," Donald said.  
"Uh-huh, before we start meddlin'. A-hyuck!" Goofy said with a laugh.  
"Right," Sora agreed. The two of us looked at each other and grinned.  
"Are you turkeys trying to put me out of the job?" Phil asked, walking over. "If you keep acing every challenge, Champ, who am I gonna train?"  
"Aw, you can't abandon me now, Phil!" Herc told him. "I gotta be at the top of my game in case Hades shows up again."  
"Hey, are we true heroes yet?" Donald asked enthusiastically.  
"Yeah! C'mon, Phil, how 'bout it?" Sora urged. Sora pointed to himself and me, and Phil stroked his goatee.  
"Lemme see now…Well, you're not wise enough…" he started, and Donald, Sora, and I glared at him. "Not quite…seasoned enough…"  
"Okay, okay, we get the hint!" I snapped irritably.  
"Look, kid, it's not my call!" Phil replied.  
"Aw, phooey," Donald complained.  
"Course if it was, you'd have no problem," Phil added. "I'd make you all heroes, in a heartbeat!" Sora and I looked at Donald, and then back to Phil.  
"Really?" Sora asked eagerly.  
"Say it again!" Donald ordered.  
"On second thought, if those are your true 'hero' faces, you still got a lotta work to do," Phil said. He turned and started to walk away. Donald walked alongside him.  
"Hey, what do you mean?" he demanded.  
"Go away!" Phil snapped. He started to run back to the Coliseum, Donald in pursuit.  
"Phil!" Sora yelled, and he started to follow. I sat back on the ground and watched, smirking.  
"Leave me alone!" Phil shouted at them. Meg and Hercules looked at the stars.  
"See that?" she asked him.  
"Well, whaddya know…" Herc murmured. Donald and Sora stopped and looked, and they and Goofy and I jumped happily as tears of joy ran down Phil's face. The stars in the sky had formed constellations of the four of us, signifying us as true heroes. We soon left afterwards, knowing this world was safe.


	20. Return To Port Royal!

A/N: These are being cranked out faster than I thought they would be. AWESOME! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 20

Return To Port Royal! But There's Another Organization Member!

We returned to Port Royal, ending up at the Rampart. We heard screams coming from the port, just liked last time, and we looked at each other.  
"That's coming from the port," Goofy said.  
"Let's check it out," Sora said. We ran to the Harbor and found Jack being chased by several cursed pirates. "Jack!"  
"Zola! Some assistance!" Jack called to us. I jerked my head back as though I'd been slapped; Jack didn't remember our names?  
"That's SORA, Shadow, Donald, and Goofy!" Sora corrected him, and I gave one swift nod.  
"Will ye leave a mate to perish?" Jack groaned.  
"Aye aye…" Sora and I muttered. We fought off the cursed pirates, and turned to face Jack.  
"Those pirates were cursed," I observed. "I thought we'd seen the last of the curse of the Aztec gold…What gives?"  
"Some scallywag must've got greedy," Jack said, and we all looked at him. "Oh, I see…You don't trust me, do you?" We nodded at him. "Likely a wise choice, I AM a pirate, mates."  
"Jack! Sora! Shadow!" Elizabeth's voice rang out. She ran up to us, looking worried.  
"Elizabeth!" Sora and I said. Jack started to leave for some reason.  
"Wait, Jack! I need your help. The cursed pirates have returned," Elizabeth told us. "Will had to find out why, so he went to Isla de Muerta—to check on the Aztec treasure. I fear something's happened. You have to take me to him."  
"Aye, there it is," Jack said when she had finished. "If you'll be wanting him rescued, best do it alone, lass."  
"Alone? Really, Jack? Sail to the island and take on the cursed pirates?" she asked him.  
"Well, if any lass could…" Jack replied, trailing off.  
"Are you sure he's in trouble?" Sora asked her.  
"No. Not certain. But he's been gone too long," she said. "I wanted to go with him, but he insisted I stay here. I can't just sit and wait! I've got to know if he's all right."  
"Lucky man…" Jack murmured to himself.  
"Please, Jack! Take me to him!" Elizabeth begged.  
"Hold a moment. I see no profit in it for me," Jack said.  
"I shall reward you. Of course…you do owe Will. He has saved your life before," she pointed out.  
"Right. Shall we?" Jack replied. We boarded the Black Pearl and set sail for Isla de Muerta. Suddenly, Goofy saw something.  
"Interceptor off the starboard bow!" he announced. We ran over and saw Will unconscious over the railing of the ship.  
"Will!" Elizabeth cried out. Jack placed his hand on his chest as though Will were dead. "Stop that, Jack. We've got to rescue him!"  
We rescued Will and gathered in the Captain's stateroom with him in a kneeling Elizabeth's arms.  
"Will, wake up," she said, and he began to come to.  
"Elizabeth…" he said weakly.  
"What happened?" she asked him.  
"The medallions…and…the stone chest—someone's taken them…Next thing I knew, we were attacked…but I couldn't tell who it was—his face was shrouded…in a black hood," he explained.  
"The Organization!" Sora and I said, and we looked at each other.  
"We found a way out of the cave…but the villain sent a horde of terrible creatures after us…I've never seen their likes before…I think I'm the only one who made it back to the ship…" he breathed.  
"Will…" she murmured.  
"Elizabeth…I feel rather…" he said, and fell asleep in her arms. She laid him down gently.  
"Our turn, guys," Sora said.  
"You'd best go prepared. We've no idea what's out there," Elizabeth warned us.  
"Pardon me, lads and lass, but your captain will have no monsters today. Thank ye. We're turning for home," Jack said, and started to walk away.  
"Just like that?" Elizabeth asked in disbelief.  
"Just like that!" Jack confirmed. He returned to the deck, and Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I followed him. "Don't remember invitin' you," he said when we got up there. A figure in a black coat appeared, and the stone treasure chest was beside him.  
"So it was the Organization. We'll handle this!" I said. The figure held out his hand.  
"The Darkness of men's hearts—drawn to these cursed medallions; and this Heartless—a veritable maelstrom of avarice:" he said, and the large Grim Reaper Heartless appeared, swinging it pendulum-like axe. "I wonder, are they worthy to serve Organization XIII?"  
"And you want an answer now?" Jack asked.  
"Precisely!" the man answered. He left, leaving us to fight the Heartless. We fought it on the deck, and once it was beaten, it fell into the water.  
"Oh, boy!" Donald said, but it was too soon for it.  
"Not over yet!" I warned him. The man appeared again, this time next to the stone chest. He took off his hood, revealing his blond hair. We would soon come to learn his name is Luxord. He smirked at us.  
"Throw him overboard!" Jack ordered.  
"Aye aye!" Sora agreed.  
"Parley!" Luxord said out of nowhere.  
"'Scuse me?" Jack asked.  
"Barley?" Goofy said, confused.  
"It's a bit of a pirates' code. Anyone who invokes 'parley' must not be harmed 'til negotiations are complete," Jack explained.  
"This is no time for rules!" I protested.  
"True. But as we're honorable pirates we should always stick to the Code," he replied. He then turned his attention to Luxord. "All right, you. Out with it!"  
"I surrender the chest with my humblest apologies," Luxord said.  
"Rather accommodating of you, mate," Jack replied. "And for that you want…?"  
"Just a few souvenirs…for the memories," Luxord answered. He grabbed four medallions from the chest.  
"Huh?" Jack said. Luxord threw the medallions into the air where four Gambler Nobodies appeared, grabbed them and took off.  
"Oh, no! We can't stop the curse unless we got all the medallions!" Goofy wailed.  
"Our friend's about to learn what it means to cross a pirate," Jack said threateningly.  
"Oh?" Luxord replied tauntingly. The Grim Reaper Heartless suddenly burst out of the water, cursed by the medallions.  
"Sora, Donald, Goofy, Shadow, he's yours!" Jack tried to say, but the Heartless swung its axe, creating a powerful blast of wind that blew all five off us onto the Interceptor.  
"Fire!" Luxord yelled, and the Black Pearl's cannons fired at us, destroying the ship. Sora and I woke up later in the Interceptor's Hold. We looked up and saw Jack standing in the moonlight, skeletal again.  
"You stole a medallion again?" Sora demanded.  
"Were I only that fortunate…" Jack replied.  
"Fortunate?" Donald repeated, confused.  
"So, uh, how come you're all skeleton-y?" Goofy asked.  
"Perhaps I got a touch 'o something from that monster what attacked us," he guessed. "Yet, why's the skin restin' right on your four?"  
"Cause we're not greedy!" Donald declared. Sora, Goofy, and I stared at him. "What're you looking at?"  
"That still doesn't solve the mystery," I remarked. Jack walked out of the moonlight.  
"Gawrsh…Maybe the reason we're all okay is because we're not from this world," Goofy guessed.  
"There must be different laws," Donald agreed.  
"Yeah…we're always just passing through…Wonder when we'll see home again…" Sora and I murmured.  
"Sora…Shadow…" Donald said, surprised.  
"Just kiddin' you. Lucky we didn't get cursed, huh?" Sora replied.  
"Quit yammerin' mates! We've got to find ourselves a ship that'll float," Jack reminded us. We continued to the Seadrift Keep, where Donald pointed something out.  
"Look!" he shouted, and we looked to see a Gambler Nobody flipping a medallion in its hand.  
"A medallion! Get it!" Jack cried out, and we quickly beat the Nobody. It dropped the medallion once defeated, and Jack picked it up. "Three more to go!"  
"How do you know?" Sora asked him.  
"A pirate must have a keen eye. Else he won't be sailin' free for very long. Savvy?" he explained.  
"Huh? What's that?" Donald said curiously, and he pointed. We looked and saw a ship coming in. Elizabeth was on the deck.  
"Ahoy, mateys!" she called out to us.  
"Ridiculous imitation—and yet, I'm flattered," Jack said. We boarded the Black Pearl, and Jack's skeleton form was revealed.  
"Jack, what happened? This is horrible!" she said once we had all gathered.  
"Ah, but who's to blame for it, eh?" he said as though hinting to her.  
"Well, it certainly isn't Elizabeth," Will said, defending her.  
"It's Organization XIII. They're the ones behind it all," I explained.  
"Wonder where they went," Goofy wondered aloud.  
"The hooded man took the pirates and his creatures with him into some strange hole. We saw them leave from inside the captain's stateroom," Will told us.  
"Didn't occur to you to fight them, mate?" Jack asked.  
"I'm no fool. I knew I was no match for them," Will retorted.  
"That I believe," Jack replied.  
"Sora, Shadow, I think we'll need your help," Will told us.  
"Got it," we agreed.  
"First, let's find all the medallions," Will suggested. "Otherwise, the curse can't be broken and the creatures will remain invincible." We set a course for Isla de Muerta, where we found and fought the final three Nobodies and recovered the last of the medallions. We returned to the ship to regroup.  
"That's four medallions! We got 'em all!" Sora said as he held them in his fist.  
"But where's the chest?" Jack wondered.  
"If we find the hooded man, we'll find it," Will assumed.  
"Prob'ly in Port Royal," Sora told them.  
"Why's that?" Elizabeth asked.  
"Organization XIII is after people's hearts," I explained. "So they're gonna go where there's lots of people."  
"They'll hurt the townsfolk?" Will asked.  
"No, they're bringin' 'em flowers, mate," Jack said sarcastically. "I don't know who these Organizers are, but I will say they're makin' we pirates look like proper gents." Jack walked up to the helm and took control of the ship.  
"Well, Jack…then…we have to help!" Will said.  
"Then let go and haul to run free!" Jack ordered. We set sail for the port, and when we arrived, the Grim Reaper Heartless was already waiting for us at the Harbor. "Go! He's for me." Jack led the Heartless away while Sora, Donald, Goofy, Will, and I approached the stone chest.  
"Now to break that curse!" Sora said, and he dropped the four medallions into the chest. The Grim Reaper returned to its normal state.  
"The curse—it's gone!" Donald cried out. Jack looked at himself, seeing as he was still skeletal.  
"Then what's this?" he said curiously.  
"Aw, I understand. Jack musta been cursed by that monster, not from takin' the gold," Goofy realized.  
"Oh, I've no worries, then," Jack replied sarcastically.  
"It's okay, Jack. We'll just have to defeat the monster, that's all," I assured him. Suddenly, the Grim Reaper swung its axe at us, and we dodged the attack, but the slash hit the stone chest, scattering the medallions. It returned to its skeletal form.  
"Get the gold!" Jack ordered. Will took off for safety, and we fought against the Grim Reaper Heartless, collecting gold and returning it to the chest as we fought. Finally, we beat the Heartless, and Jack became fully human again.  
"All better," Sora remarked.  
"Ah, not quite, mate," Jack pointed out, and we saw Luxord collecting the giant heart from the Heartless we had just beaten.  
"Sora, Shadow, bravo," Luxord told us, but as we ran to him, he vanished into darkness.  
"Just who was that chap?" Jack asked us.  
"He's part of and Organization that's collecting hearts," I explained. "First they release Heartless into different worlds. We defeat those Heartless. Then they get the hearts. We're never gonna stop 'em like this." Will and Elizabeth joined us then.  
"What's the plan, then?" Jack asked.  
"We gotta find their stronghold and finish them off once and for all," Sora answered.  
"Sailin' these waters, I've heard some tales, but not a one like this," Jack told us.  
"Is there any way we can help?" Will offered. Sora and I thought about it.  
"Anything at all?" Elizabeth urged.  
"There is," Jack said. We once again boarded the Black Pearl, this time bringing the stone chest to drop into the sea. Once it was dropped off, we looked to each other. "It's certain we don't need the likes of that hooded fellow and the Heartless about. They'll ruin the market for us true pirates."  
"So that's why you went to Port Royal," Elizabeth said scornfully. "And we thought you actually wanted to save everyone."  
"A pirate always looks to profit, Miss Swann," Jack replied smoothly.  
"Too bad. You had us going there, thinking you'd turned over a new leaf," I said.  
"The question is, what's beyond the leaf? Savvy?" Jack answered.  
"Oh…oh, yes—a reward," Elizabeth said, remembering. "And what'll it be?"  
"That lovely blade of Sora's," Jack said.  
"Huh?" Sora, Donald, and I said, confused. Sora nodded.  
"Okay. Sure," Sora said, and flipped the handle around, offering it to Jack.  
"Hold on! That was far too easy. What's the rub?" Jack asked, looking suspicious. He hesitantly took the Keyblade from Sora, but it disappeared in a flash and reappeared in Sora's hand again. Jack pointed with both hands at Sora and me. "There, you see?"  
"Well, you've always got the Pearl, Jack," I pointed out to him.  
"That I do," Jack agreed. "But someday, I'll gather a blood-thirsty crew, and come to take that blade. Chance by then I'll have the way to wield it. And if I succeed, I'll ask you two to join me. That'd be reward enough."  
"Done," Elizabeth agreed.  
"Maybe someday, Jack'll be able to use the Keyblade after all," Goofy said.  
"Why's that?" Donald asked.  
"A-hyuck! He and Sora and Shadow are kind of alike, dontcha think?" Goofy answered with a laugh.  
"Are not!" Sora, Jack, and I said in unison. We looked at each other, and everyone laughed together. Later, Jack sailed away on the Black Pearl.  
"Some say Jack Sparrow's the worst pirate to sail the Spanish Main," Will told us.  
"No one could really mean that," Elizabeth replied in disbelief.  
"Right. We know he's the best," Will agreed.  
"I hope we'll get to see him again," Sora and I murmured, and we left Port Royal, knowing it would now be safe.


	21. Return To Agrabah!

A/N:

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 21

Return To Agrabah! Jafar's Back?!

We returned to Agrabah, arriving in the Peddler's Shop. As we looked around, Donald knocked into a vase, almost breaking it.  
"Wak!" Donald yelped.  
"You break it, you buy it!" the Peddler said from behind the counter. "Oh! Hello there, friends." We noticed he had piles of gold behind him, and I immediately was hooked on wanting some of that treasure.  
"Wow! You made out like a bandit!" Sora remarked, seeming impressed.  
"Please…I am but an honest merchant. What you see is merely the reward for my hard work," he told us.  
"Gawrsh, they sure are nice," Goofy commented.  
"And they're on sale! Interested?" the Peddler offered.  
"No thanks. Listen, have you seen a guy in a black coat? Someone from Organization XIII?" I asked.  
"Who me? Most certainly not…" he said, but I could tell he was hiding something.  
"Okay. We'll keep asking around, then," Sora told him. Suddenly, Iago, Aladdin, and Abu ran into the shop.  
"Sora, Shadow! Don't let him get away!" Aladdin yelled to us, but when we looked, the Peddler was gone. Aladdin sighed heavily.  
"What's going on?" Sora and I asked, bewildered.  
"Can't believe it…That stupid peddler let Jafar out of the lamp!" Aladdin told us with some disbelief in his tone.  
"Jafar?!" we all four gasped. What I remember the most clearly about Jafar was his psychotic laugh.  
"You guys better be careful," he warned us.  
"Huh?" Donald said, confused.  
"I'm sure Jafar wants to take over Agrabah again, but I know he's out for revenge, too," he explained.  
"I guess he's still sore about the whole lamp thing, huh," Sora guessed.  
"Iago was there when Jafar was released. Okay, Iago. Spill it," Aladdin ordered the bird.  
"Hey! I told you everything I know!" Iago protested.  
"This is your one and only chance, Iago. If I find out later that you've been lying or hiding things from us, we're through. I'll never speak to you again!" Aladdin threatened him.  
"I can't take it! I know where Jafar is!" Iago finally cracked.  
"Where?" Goofy demanded.  
"Uh, er, I mean, that is, I, um…Ack! I really shouldn't…" he spluttered, and I could tell inside his head he was scrambling.  
"Iago!" Aladdin snapped at him.  
"He's in the desert ruins," Iago sighed.  
"Let's get the jump on him. Lead the way!" Sora said. We left for the outskirts of the city, but at the Palace Walls, we saw a large windstorm surrounding the desert ruins.  
"What a disaster! We're just gonna hafta turn back," Iago said simply.  
"There's gotta be a way…" Aladdin murmured.  
"Aw, c'mon, kid, that's an easy one!" Genie's voice rang out from the sky. He flew in and hovered near us. "Al, ol' buddy, ol' pal!" He swung around Aladdin. "This is what having a genie for a best friend is all about! I mean, how can you leave me on the sidelines in a time like this?" He vanished, and then reappeared almost as big as the palace wall. "Live large! Wow 'em, Al!" He teleported back to Aladdin, but smaller this time, his normal size. "Give 'em the old razzmatazz! What do ya say, kid?"  
"Hey, Genie!" Sora and I said in greeting.  
"Sora! Shadow!" he said, and darted over to us. "Wanna see something I call 'Sandstorm Sweep'?" he asked us. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I nodded.  
"Take it away, Genie!" Aladdin encouraged.  
"Alakaza—uh…You know? One lousy sandstorm is just too easy," Genie said, looking disappointed. He pointed a finger at the sandstorm, and magic twirled around it, making it disappear. We were still amazed, but when we looked to thank Genie, he wasn't there. "How about giving me a challenge next time, eh Al?" We walked to the Sandswept Ruins, which were in a gigantic hole in the ground.  
"Now what do we do?" Aladdin wondered when Carpet flew in and pointed to itself.  
"Nice timing, Carpet!" Sora praised. I grew in size to accommodate Sora on my back while the others rode on Carpet. I launched myself into the air, spreading my wings wide and luxuriating in the feeling of the sun's warmth on my back. We flew down there, and Jafar's shadow appeared near a ruin on the other side of the hole. Sora and I flew towards it, but when we got close, the shadow vanished with a puff of red smoke. Heartless appeared shortly after, so we fought and beat them. The shadow reappeared in an archway nearby, and we chased him all the way to the top of a tower. The shadow vanished in the red smoke again, and Heartless showed up. We fought the Heartless, taking them down easily. Once they were all gone, a monument appeared at the top of the tower. We checked it out, and used it to find the locations of three switches around in the ruins. We found them all, activated them, and quickly flew to a now open doorway in the tower. We all flew into the tower and regrouped there. Once ready, we ran into the room in the tower.  
"The game's up, Jafar!" Sora announced as we ran in. Jafar wasn't there, though.  
"You sure this is it?" Aladdin asked Iago.  
"Iago?" Donald pressed. Iago flew over and landed on a stone, hanging his head in shame.  
"Ya gotta understand. It wasn't my idea!" he wailed. "It was Jafar. He made me bring you here. You don't know him like I do! He can be VERY convincing! He said if I didn't cooperate, he was gonna—"  
"Where is he?" Aladdin demanded.  
"C'mon Al, you gotta forgive me!" Iago begged.  
"Where's Jafar?!" Aladdin demanded again, this time scaring Iago into flight.  
"Well…um, let's see…right about now, he's probably attacking the palace," Iago guessed. "I had no choice! His eyes, they got all creepy and WEIRD!"  
"Whatever. Iago, you're supposed to be our friend. But you've been playing both sides, just to make sure you save yourself," Sora said, and I bristled angrily, shaking my head slowly with shame towards the bird.  
"I knew you were still a bad guy!" Donald yelled at him.  
"I'm SORRY!" Iago shrieked, and he knocked into an urn as he flew. When he knocked it over, the whole place started to rumble and collapse. Carpet quickly flew in, and the others climbed on as Sora and I flew out as a pair. We flew as fast as we could out of there, and made our way back to the Palace Walls. Once we got there, Carpet slumped to the ground.  
"Get some rest, Carpet. You earned it," Aladdin told it.  
"C'mon, let's get Jafar!" Iago said.  
"And who asked you?" I spat coldly.  
"The palace is through there. Hurry!" Aladdin said urgently. We ran into the city and interrogated the Peddler.  
"I guess you know everything now, eh?" he asked, looking slightly nervous. He was caught red-handed, simple as that.  
"You can't keep shady stuff secret for long," Sora pointed out validly.  
"So true. I had just snuck into the Palace to, er, borrow some treasure when I heard this…voice," the Peddler explained. "It said: 'Release me, and I will give you an even greater reward.' 'Who are you?' I asked. The voice spoke again. 'The true Sultan of Agrabah,' he said. 'Imprisoned by villains.' Oh! Why did I believe such a tall, tall tale? Perhaps I was under Jafar's spell. Yes! That must be it!"  
"And I'm sure the treasure had nothing to do with it, right?" I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes.  
"Maybe a bit. But Jafar, he never gave me a thing…" he replied.  
"So where did you get all your treasure?" Sora asked.  
"Why, the man in the black coat, of course," the Peddler answered.  
"Organization XIII?! I KNEW it!" the brunette cried out.  
"The treasure was a gift, so I would tell no one about Jafar's return," the Peddler explained. "He said he would destroy Jafar after turning him into a…'Heartless.' So there was no need to upset Agrabah."  
"And you bought that?" I demanded in disbelief.  
"I'm a merchant. And a good one, at that. I'll buy anything if the price is right. It would have been a successful transaction if I hadn't been seen…" he said, and glanced at Iago.  
"Oh, you're so kind…" Iago muttered. We looked at Iago, and he looked down shamefully. We raced to the palace, where Jafar had Jasmine in chains against the door.  
"Just wait, Jafar! You'll get exactly what's coming to you!" Jasmine yelled at him defiantly.  
"Indeed I will, Princess. All of Agrabah will belong to me, while you…You, my queen, shall weep at my side for all eternity!" he told her. She struggled at her chains. "Oh, please…" He touched her chin. "Right about now…you precious Aladdin is whispering your name, with his last breath." Jasmine saw us and gasped expectantly, making Jafar turn around.  
"What was that you were saying, Jafar?" Aladdin asked. Jafar looked away from us as if disgusted, but then he spied Iago on Goofy's shoulder.  
"You dare defy me! You useless bird!" Jafar yelled at Iago furiously. His snake staff's eyes began to glow, and he aimed it at Iago, but Goofy covered with his shield, the pair of them cringing. At the last moment, however, Jafar switched his target to Aladdin, and shot the energy beam at him.  
"Al!" Iago shrieked, and shot in the way and took the blow. He fell to the ground, unmoving.  
"Iago!" Goofy gasped as we gathered around him.  
"You'll all be joining him…VERY soon!" Jafar said menacingly, and he began to glow with magical energy. Red smoke billowed out behind him, and he lifted his hands and entered the smoke. He changed into his genie form and grew enormous. He ripped off a tower and dropped it over Aladdin, Sora, and I.  
"Whoa!" Sora gasped.  
"Run!" Aladdin shouted, and I thought, _'I could've thought of that…'_  
We ran from there, but Carpet flew in and picked up Aladdin, and I grew in size and Sora jumped onto my back. I launched myself airborne, and we raced into the air to fight Jafar. We fought a tough aerial battle against him, but eventually won.  
"No…How can I be defeated again, by a pack of filthy street rats?" he screamed as he writhed in the air.  
"Don't mess with street rats!" Sora and I said with a smirk, and I snickered as we flew away. Jafar exploded with a burst of magic, and his black lamp faded away. Genie appeared soon after.  
"You went mano a mano with Jafar and you didn't invite me, Al?" Genie complained.  
"Sorry, Genie. Things happened kinda fast," Aladdin apologized.  
"And I had some new moves to show off, too…" Genie grumbled.  
"But, Genie, we still need your help!" Donald pointed out.  
"Who's gonna fix Agrabah?" I asked.  
"Oh, yeah! One super-duper spruced-up Agrabah comin' right up! You won't even recognize the place when I'm through with it!" Genie cried out excitedly.  
"Just like it was, please," Aladdin said politely.  
"Really? Same old same old?" Genie asked as though he didn't quite believe it. Aladdin, Sora, and I nodded. "All right." He swung his arms. "Ooh, yeah!" Magic flew around everywhere, restoring the buildings in Agrabah. "Et voila! Next time let me put in a few swimming pools, 'kay?" Genie called to us.  
"I guess Agrabah's all right now," Sora and I remarked as Aladdin stretched.  
"Yeah! Thanks, guys," he told us gratefully. We turned our attention to Iago.  
"Hey, you behave yourself, got it?" I called to him.  
"I most definitely got it! No more lookin' out for number one. I'm reformed! I wanna be a good friend, like Genie, but I can't do anything to help you. What kind of friend is that?" he said.  
"Oh, no—it's not like that, Iago," Sora explained. "Friends don't have to 'do' stuff. As long as you have fun hanging out together, that's all that matters."  
"So…what do you guys do for fun?" Aladdin asked us.  
"We do this!" Donald said, and he and Goofy each made a silly face. I slapped my forehead and groaned.  
"Uh…that's not quite what I meant…" Aladdin replied.  
"Well, anyway…" Sora said, and I looked at him with a smile.  
"Ow, my beak…" Iago complained.  
"Gawrsh, Iago. I hope ya didn't hurt yourself," Goofy said worriedly to the bird.  
"Well…at least I can still fly," Iago muttered. Goofy walked beneath Iago as he flew to catch him if he fell, but Goofy wasn't looking where he was going.  
"Look out!" Donald warned him, but Goofy still crashed into a market stand.  
"Ooh! Was that my cue? Am I on? C'mon, Al, lemme build a freeway or something!" Genie cried out excitedly.  
"Everything's fine. Don't panic…" Aladdin tried to say. We saw magic flying around anyway. "Genie!"  
"But I can't hold it any longer!" Genie shouted. He spun around in the air, laughing. "Oh, that's good! Sora! Shadow! Donald! Goofy! You guys are too much! If you're ever in the mood for some more cosmic razzle dazzle, gimme a shout, okay?"  
"You got it!" Donald assured him.  
"Well, you've done it again, Sora and Shadow. Don't forget about us, okay?" Aladdin said.  
"We won't," we said in unison.  
"And Sora, Shadow…about those friends of yours, the ones you're looking for…You'll find them. Trust me," he assured us. He placed his hand on Sora's shoulder and thus, my back, and we looked at him with a smile. We soon left, knowing this world was at peace.


	22. Return To Halloween Town!

A/N: And now, Chapter 22! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 22

Back To Halloween Town! But…Why Are There Presents Missing?

We arrived back in the world of Halloween Town, and ended up in the Hinterlands. When we got there, though, we saw dozens of presents scattered along the ground.  
"Huh?" Donald said, confused. Jack, still wearing that silly Santa Claus suit, was picking up the presents.  
"Perfect timing, gentlemen! Lend me a hand, won't you?" Jack said. "These presents must belong to Sandy Claws. So I thought I'd better return them."  
"You just happened to find them?" Sora asked suspiciously, folding his arms. I narrowed my eyes to slits.  
"Of course, Sora and Shadow. I'm finished with Christmas fantasies. You know that," he said.  
"But…You thought you'd hold on to the suit?" I questioned.  
"What, this? It's just a costume. And Sally worked so very hard making it! Come on. We've got work to do," he told us. We walked to Santa's House with the presents.  
"Oh!" Santa gasped as we set them on the table. "Wherever did you find these?" He snatched the present from Jack's hands.  
"In Halloween Town. You'll be needing these for Christmas, right, Sandy?" Jack answered.  
"Of course. But these are just a few of the Christmas presents that were stolen," Santa explained.  
"Stolen?!" Sora gasped. We looked at Jack, who scratched his head.  
"Oh, Sandy…You don't think it was ME?" Jack asked.  
"Still wearing the outfit, I see," Santa observed.  
"I just thought I'd dress for the occasion," Jack replied. "But if you don't believe me, then we'll just have to find out who really did it!"  
"Very well, I'll leave it to you," Santa told him.  
"All right, Sora, Shadow, Donald, Goofy! We're off!" Jack declared, pointing to the door. We slumped in defeat, but before we could leave, there was a crash from the Toy Factory. We ran to the second floor Wrapping Room and found Lock, Shock, and Barrel in amongst the toys.  
"No!" Shock snapped. Lock tossed away a sailboat. Barrel held up a stuffed bear.  
"This looks good," he said with promise.  
"No!" Shock repeated.  
"Boooring!" Lock chimed in. Barrel tossed the bear away.  
"This one?" Lock asked.  
"No!" Shock, again.  
"No way!" Barrel added.  
"Hey!" Donald yelled, getting their attention. They looked and saw us.  
"So YOU three took them!" Sora said.  
"Took what?" Shock demanded.  
"You stole the presents, didn't you!" Jack accused.  
"It wasn't us!" Lock protested.  
"But…" Barrel started.  
"It really sound like fun!" Shock finished, taking off her mask. She put her mask back on and they scattered.  
"Run for it!" they all three shouted. We quickly beat and caught all of them, and then began to interrogate them.  
"Where'd you put the presents?" I snarled.  
"We told you! We don't have 'em!" Shock insisted.  
"Then why are you in here?!" Donald demanded.  
"We're looking for parts for the experiment," Lock explained.  
"Experiment?" Jack repeated.  
"Dr. Finkelstein's making us a friend!" Lock told us.  
"One we get to boss around!" Barrel added.  
"It's true the doctor's been hard at work making SOMETHING lately…" Jack murmured.  
"Beside, Christmas presents are boring. Not scary or gross…So what good are they?" Lock pointed out to us.  
"Yeah!" Barrel agreed.  
"There's nothing fun here. Let's go back to Halloween Town!" Lock told his two fellow pranksters. The three of them left, and we met with Santa Claus.  
"So, were those pranksters responsible for taking the gifts?" Santa asked us.  
"It doesn't look like it," Jack replied.  
"Then that means…" Santa began, but Sally ran into the room.  
"Sally!" Jack gasped.  
"Oh, thank goodness! You're all here," Sally sighed with relief.  
"Is something wrong?" Sora asked her.  
"The Heartless are back in the town square. I thought you should know," she told us.  
"That's our cue!" I said.  
"Back to Halloween Town!" Donald agreed, and we started to leave.  
"But wait! What about finding the gift-napper?" Jack wondered.  
"Actually…the Heartless were playing with some presents when I saw them…" Sally informed us.  
"Aha! We have our culprits!" Jack exclaimed. We ran back to Halloween Town and saw the Mayor yelling at the Heartless.  
"You! You can't be here! Leave now, by order of the mayor!" he yelled at them. The Heartless ignored him and continued to play with presents. "Somebody? Anybody! I'm only an elected official—I can't handle this by myself."  
"Sally was right. We've got to get the presents!" Jack said determinedly. Sora and I, along with the others, quickly fought and beat the Heartless, retrieving them as we went. Once they were gone and the presents recovered, Jack saw an open present on the ground. He stepped on the doll that had been in it and picked up the box instead.  
"What a shame!" he remarked. "It looks like it was such a nice present."  
"Uh, Jack—" Sora and I tried to say when we saw the doll beneath Jack's boot. Suddenly, the door to Dr. Finkelstein's lab opened, and the doctor wheeled himself out, rubbing his head.  
"Oh, help! Someone help me! My latest experiment is gone—it's been stolen!" he cried out. We followed the doctor inside to try and get an explanation. "I was just sitting here brainstorming, when all of a sudden I was attacked! I collapsed! And when I awoke, my experiment was gone!"  
"Don't worry, Doctor—we know who took it," Jack told him.  
"Who?!"  
"The Heartless," Sora answered. Donald nodded in agreement.  
"What, those wretched things? Preposterous! This was nothing like a Heartless," the doctor scoffed.  
"Not the Heartless, huh…" I murmured.  
"Who else could it be?" Donald wondered.  
"Say, I have an idea. The thief must like Christmas presents. So…We place irresistible presents about to draw him into a trap," Jack suggested.  
"And this miscreant is the same one who stole my experiment?" Dr. Finkelstein asked.  
"That's right," Jack replied with confidence.  
"How will we know for sure?" Sora asked, and I cocked my head to the side, perplexed.  
"Well, now, that's easy! We'll scare a confession right out of him!" Jack said simply.  
"Gawrsh…" Goofy murmured.  
"What do you say we go with Jack's plan…just for now?" I asked my friends.  
"Let's get to Sandy's house posthaste! We've got to make some Christmas presents, quickly!" Jack said urgently. We returned to Santa's house to speak with him about Jack's plan.  
"Have you found the presents yet?" he asked us when we arrived.  
"Almost, Mr. Claws!" Jack told him.  
"We're going to reel in the thief with Christmas presents as bait," Sora explained.  
"Would you mind if we used your factory to create a few presents?" Jack asked kindly.  
"Presents as bait? Goodness…I don't like the sound of that," Santa murmured. Jack scratched his head. "Just this once, I suppose. It's for a good cause…All right, use the second floor. And put some heart in it." We ascended the stairs to the second floor and made one hundred decoy presents.  
"All done!" Donald said when we finished.  
"Not quite," Jack corrected.  
"There's more?" Goofy asked.  
"Don't worry, I'll take care of the rest," Jack assured us. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I returned to Santa's House.  
"Did you finish making the presents?" Santa asked when we got back in.  
"Yup, just waiting for Jack," Sora replied.  
"So, uh, where do you think we oughta leave them?" Goofy wondered.  
"Oh, I know a good spot. Whenever you're ready just say the word," Santa told us.  
"I'm back!" Jack announced as he walked in.  
"Now, then. Are you all set?" Santa asked us.  
"Yes. Let's go!" Sora and I said. We walked outside to Candy Cane Lane where Santa unlocked the gate to the Christmas Tree Plaza.  
"This plaza should work well for your plan. Now, Jack…what IS your plan?" Santa told us.  
"I've got it all figured out," Jack replied.  
"You do…" Santa murmured worriedly.  
"Of course! And I also have a wonderful idea. If we catch the thief for you, I would be honored to deliver the-" Jack said, but Sora and I quickly covered his mouth.  
"And on that note, we'll be going," I said.  
"What are you doing? Let me go!" Jack said, his words muffled. Sora and I led him to the plaza and let go of his mouth. Sora patted his shoulder, but Jack still looked unhappy. After we entered the Christmas Tree Plaza…  
"Stop kicking!" Donald snapped at Goofy.  
"It's not me, Donald," Goofy told him.  
"Patience, friends," Jack said.  
"Shhh!" Sora and I shushed them. We had scattered dozens of presents around the plaza, with us in a giant gift box with a bow on it. Donald scuffled in the box again.  
"I said cut it out!" Donald snapped again.  
"Gawrsh, was that you?" Goofy gasped.  
"How come we have to be the bait?" I demanded of Jack.  
"Good plan, eh?" he replied.  
"Ouch!" Donald complained. Suddenly, we all heard footsteps. We listened carefully for them to get close enough, and then we popped out of the box.  
"Gotcha!" Sora yelled. But we only saw the experiment.  
"Huh?" Jack said, confused. It twirled its arm around. "Dr. Finkelstein's experiment did it!" We fought the experiment, and destroyed it. "We did it. The mystery is solved!" Santa flew in on his sleigh at that moment.  
"Did you catch the thief?" he asked us once he had climbed out of his sleigh.  
"Naturally!" Jack answered.  
"We just can't figure out why the doctor's experiment would go around stealing Christmas presents," Sora and I murmured.  
"His experiment?" Santa inquired.  
"The thief! It was a moving puppet made by Dr. Finkelstein," Jack explained. Santa walked up to it.  
"Hmm…The doctor's made a moving puppet? I see…He is always tinkering with things," Santa remarked. He turned to Jack. "Now listen, Jack. I'd like to thank you, and while delivering presents is something only I can do, I can give you an idea of what it's like."  
"Sandy Claws!" Jack said ecstatically. He leaped into the sleigh.  
"Yes, all that poor puppet wanted was a heart," Santa told us. Jack took off in the sleigh.  
"Ho! Ho! Ho!" he cried out as he flew away. The rest of us returned to Halloween Town Square.  
"Interesting! So the puppet wasn't stolen after all! It ran away on its own! In other words, my experiment was an overwhelming success!" the doctor said when we explained what had happened.  
"Santa Claus thinks it left because it was trying to find a heart," Sora told him. Donald nodded.  
"That's quite possible. Unlike my Sally, it wasn't equipped with a heart," he replied, and wheeled back into his lab.  
"But if it wanted a heart, why was it going around stealing Christmas presents?" I wondered.  
"Maybe because…presents are a way of giving your heart to someone special," Sally told us.  
"Hmm…when you put it that way, we feel sort of bad for it," we murmured. We all heard the sound of ringing bells and looked up to see Jack dropping out of the sky. He landed, and we saw Santa and his sleigh fly up near the moon.  
"Happy Halloween!" Santa called out through the night, and it started to snow.  
"What a nice present," Sally sighed happily.  
"I don't understand. There's no box! No ribbon tied in a bow!" Jack said, seeming perplexed.  
"Jack it's not about the box or the ribbons. It's about what's inside the box!" Sora said impulsively, and I slapped my forehead and groaned. I flicked the side of his head, and he stared at me like, 'What?'  
"No, Sora. What really counts—what's really special—is the act of giving the gift," Sally corrected him. "To wish deep in your heart to make someone else happy."  
"Right…of course! Thank you, Sally, you're absolutely right," Jack told her. "Wait! What's this? I feel so strange…so very happy!"  
"Jack, that must be Sally's present!" Goofy told him.  
"Really? This wonderful feeling?" he said. He took her hands in his. "Oh, Sally! You've given me the nicest present in the world! And I've absolutely nothing to give you in return. What would you like? Just name it. Absolutely anything."  
"The nicest thing I could ever ask for, Jack, is just to be with you," Sally replied. The rest of us watched them bashfully.  
"You don't even have to ask for that," he told her, and he picked her up in his arms and jumped. They soon began to dance in the square, hand in hand.  
"Maybe I never gave her a real present after all," Sora said to himself.  
"Who?" Donald asked.  
"Aw, I bet Kairi would like most anything you gave her," Goofy told Sora, and I nodded.  
"I know. That's what made it so hard to decide," he explained.  
"It's not the gift, it's what's in your heart!" Donald told him.  
"My heart…" Sora murmured.  
"You bet, Kairi's like Sally!" Donald said in comparison.  
"How?" he asked.  
"Well, as long as she can be with you, what else does she need?" Goofy pointed out. We all four watched as Jack and Sally danced, and as they did, I remembered when I had flown high in the sky with my mate, Kikoku, many years ago. I felt a tear run down my face as I thought, and I quickly wiped it away. We soon left for the Gummi Ship, knowing this world was now safe.


	23. Return To The Pride Lands!

A/N: And the return to my fave world! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 23

Return To The Pride Lands! But What's Wrong With Simba?

We returned to the Pride Lands, and while walking through the Savannah, we ran into Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed.  
"Oh, it's you guys. Man, we were hoping you were a meal," Shenzi said as they approached.  
"Hiya!" Sora told them in greeting.  
"Don't gimme any of that 'hiya' stuff! Thanks to you clowns, we're back to scavenging scrap for a living," Banzai snapped at him. Ed laughed.  
"C'mon, it's not that bad. I enjoyed that week-dead elephant we had yesterday," Shenzi told her companions. I grimaced at the thought of rotten meat.  
"Hey, how's Simba?" I asked, but Shenzi laughed.  
"We gotta every time we hear that dude's name," Banzai explained.  
"Ooh, say it again!" Shenzi told him.  
"Simba!"  
"One more time!" she laughed.  
"Simba!" More laughter from her.  
"Simba!" All three of them started laughing this time.  
"That's enough!" I snapped at them, growling.  
"Go on, then, see for yourself. Simba is one wishy-washy king," Shenzi said as her group and she walked away.  
"Yeah, I bet about now, even some of those high and mighty lionesses were wishin' they'd gotten themselves a better king," Banzai added.  
"Gawrsh, whaddya think coulda happened?" Goofy wondered.  
"Well, let's go find Simba and see," Sora suggested. We got to Pride Rock, but when we got there, a large dark shadow appeared before us. It soon took the shape of Scar. "Scar?!" Sora and I ran to it, but it disappeared when we got to it. "Huh?"  
"A ghost?" Donald guessed.  
"We better tell Simba about this. Wonder if he's up there…" Goofy suggested. We walked up to ledge and saw a lioness there.  
"Have you come to see Simba?" she asked.  
"We saw Scar's ghost!" Sora told her.  
"An omen like that could only be the foretelling of the end of out pride," she told us. "Yet…King Simba won't do a thing. I guess just being the son of the great King Mufasa doesn't necessarily mean he's ready to rule the kingdom himself."  
"Trust us, Simba will think of something," Sora and I assured her.  
"The time for thinking is past. We need him to take action—as his father would have done," the lioness replied. "He ruled with courage and pride. I remember it like yesterday…The mighty Mufasa…"  
"Simba'll do all that, too. You'll see!" Sora told her.  
"I'm not so sure," she murmured, and left.  
"Wait here. We want to talk to Simba," Sora and I said. The four of us entered the King's Den, where Simba was laying on a flat rock. He raised his head when he saw us.  
"You came back…" he sighed happily.  
"Are you okay?" Donald asked.  
"You don't look so good," Goofy remarked.  
"Hey, Simba. Why don't we team up and do something about that Scar ghost?" Sora suggested. "Seems like everybody's worried about it. So, now's your big chance to show 'em what you're really made of!"  
"That doesn't concern you!" Simba snapped after a growl. He calmed down when he saw our worried expressions. "Sorry…"  
"It's okay," I assured him.  
"I just wish I knew what my father would do," he said sadly, and I had a flashback to when I had thought that, back in my own world when I was leader of my clan. I had wondered what my father would do during a war, and he eventually came back to me, but…it was so strange to hear someone with a similar situation.  
"But he's not here, Simba. It's all up to you now. And that means the important thing is what you're gonna do being the king. Not what your father woulda done," Goofy told him wisely.  
"So you're saying…it's all up to me…" Simba murmured.  
"See, there ya go!" I approved.  
"Exactly!" Timon and Pumbaa said as they walked in.  
"We know your dad was a great king, and all," Timon told him. "But now it's your turn. Remember what I taught ya. 'You gotta put the past behind you.' It's time to go out there and show everybody things are gonna be just fine!"  
"Yeah, you can do it!" I encouraged. I still felt the déjà vu, but it was good this time.  
"You gotta live for today!" Timon said.  
"And find your own path!" Pumbaa added, swinging his head back and forth.  
"Live for today…And find my own path…not my father's…" the golden lion murmured.  
"That's it!" Sora praised.  
"I'm glad to hear you say that, Simba," Nala said, walking up to Simba and smiling warmly.  
"Nala!" Donald said.  
"Promise me you'll help Simba any way you can," Nala told us.  
"As long as Sora and Shadow handle the dangerous parts!" Timon chimed in quickly. I chuckled as Sora and I nodded.  
"I'm counting on you, Simba…and so is our baby," Nala told her mate, and I felt almost as happy now as I did when I found out I was going to be a father. Simba stood up with us proudly.  
"Great! Now we're going to have to babysit!" Timon complained jokingly. We all laughed at his comment.  
"Let's go see Rafiki first," Simba suggested. "I'm sure he'll be able to tell us something about that ghost." We walked into the Stone Hollow where Rafiki lived and spoke to him.  
"Oh ho ho! The king—is he ready to be king?" Rafiki asked.  
"I think so," Simba replied.  
"Can you tell us about Scar's ghost?" Sora asked.  
"Oh, yes…the ghost. A being with no body. It is created when the evil heart of Scar meets the hesitating heart of Simba," Rafiki told us.  
"Hesitating?" Simba said doubtfully.  
"Ohhhh…You thought you were not?" Rafiki replied.  
"Gawrsh, that ghost sounds just like a Heartless," Goofy pointed out.  
"Hmm, I don't know," Sora murmured.  
"You're right, you don't. But you do know that it is upsetting. And it is upsetting the hearts of everybody in the Pride Lands. You may not know what it is, but it still IS. This world, it is full of many such things. And these things, a king must face. It is a test that has been set for you, Simba," Rafiki explained.  
"That's all? Come on. You have to tell us more about the ghost…" Sora tried to protest, but trailed off as Rafiki began to interrupt.  
"No, not today! But the hyenas in the Elephant Graveyard may know more," he told us. "Does not matter, though. There is little the Simba of late can do."  
"Aw, don't say that! Not when he's ready to try!" I argued.  
"In his head, perhaps…but what about his heart?" the mandrill pointed out.  
"Forget it, Sora and Shadow. Let's head for the Elephant Graveyard," Simba told us. We ran across the Savannah and entered the Elephant Graveyard, where there were fires lit like torches around the place and the hyenas standing nearby.  
"Whoa!" Sora and I breathed. It was a huge change from when we had first been here.  
"Hey you!" Donald yelled at the hyenas.  
"Aw, c'mon, can't you guys just leave us alone?" Banzai complained.  
"Do you three know anything about Scar's ghost?" Simba asked.  
"Huh? Scar's ghost?" Shenzi repeated, confused. Ed laughed.  
"Maaaybe," Banzai said.  
"You DO know!" I accused them. We ran after them, chasing them down and fighting them until they were stunned enough to be caught. Once we had cornered all three, we interrogated them.  
"Oh no…I guess you caught us ALL," Banzai said with mock fear.  
"What're we gonna do?" Shenzi wondered with mock fear as well. Ed laughed.  
"Tell me about Scar's ghost!" Simba ordered them.  
"Sorrrry. We don't know nothin'," Banzai told us.  
"Ooh, wait! It's coming back to me! That's the one that only hangs around fraidy cats! Right, Banzai?" Shenzi said.  
"Enough!" Simba growled, but Ed laughed as the ghost appeared behind us.  
"And there it is," Banzai pointed out.  
"Must be a fraidy cat around here somewhere!" Shenzi taunted. We turned around to face it.  
"Simba! Do something!" Sora yelled to him.  
"How does it feel to be king, hmm? Why, you must be a truly inspiring ruler by now," the ghost taunted. Simba started to back away, scared. "After all, you ARE the son of the great Mufasa." Simba ran away.  
"Where are you going?" I shouted after him.  
"Ah, Simba…running away as always," Scar's ghost said.  
"Simba!" Sora and I called out. Scar's ghost vanished, and the hyenas got up, laughing, and left.  
"Gawrsh, Rafiki was right," Goofy pointed out.  
"You mean, Simba's still unsure?" Sora asked him.  
"Seems like. Do ya think there's some way we can help?" Goofy wondered.  
"Hmm…We should start by talking to Simba some more," I said. "Let's head back to the Pride Lands." We returned to Pride Rock to speak with him, but he wasn't there.  
"Where's Simba?" Nala asked us when we arrived.  
"Well, uh…" Sora looked pained as he tried to explain.  
"Oh ho ho! He ran away! I knew it would not be easy for him," Rafiki said. "To face his fears, he must go somewhere where the only thing to think of is what to do, not what others think of him."  
"Why didn't you just say so?" Sora asked, and I sighed.  
"But where's Simba now?" Donald asked.  
"Hey, I know! He's at the oasis. It's our favorite hangout!" Timon told us.  
"I'll lead the way!" Pumbaa said.  
"Oh, no you won't! Simba'll smell you comin' a mile away. And if he's smart, he'll run for the hills!" Timon told his friend.  
"Oh…right," Pumbaa nodded, remembering. We hurried off to the jungle, and off to the oasis, where Simba was. When we got there, we saw Scar's ghost walking toward Simba, making him back up against the cliff.  
"Simba!" Sora yelled, and the ghost vanished.  
"It's no use. I'll never be the king my father was," Simba groaned.  
"But Simba…That's not what you're supposed to be," I told him wisely. "You can't be Mufasa. You can only be you. Everybody believes in you as a king. They just want to see what you'll do. And if anyone's saying they liked your father better, it's because you haven't done much yet. That's all."  
"I know that," he said simply.  
"Then stop moping and DO something!" Sora snapped at him.  
"I can't!" Simba protested.  
"…Fine," the brunette and I said.  
"Let's go, Sora and Shadow," Donald told us.  
"Yeah. Why stick around if he's not even gonna try?" Sora agreed validly. Sora, Donald, and I started to leave, but Goofy hesitated. "C'mon Goofy!" Goofy slowly followed us. Suddenly, the ghost appeared again, and we hid behind a log.  
"The hesitant king will one day lose all his friends," Sora said, acting as the ghost. We all copied him.  
"King Simba the doubtful…" Donald added, using a ghost voice as well.  
"Worried by a silly ol' ghost…" Goofy said in a somewhat spooky voice.  
"Ooh, Simba, the do-nothing king…" I growled evilly, and it sounded scary. Simba glared at Scar's ghost.  
"No!" he protested.  
"Try and stop me!" Donald said eerily. Simba leaped at the ghost and it vanished. We ran in to praise him.  
"You did it! The ghost is gone!" Sora cheered.  
"We knew you could do it!" Donald agreed.  
"Hooray for Simba!" Goofy cheered as well.  
"You know, I'm really lucky to have friends who'll stand by me…and help me see clearly. My father…wasn't so fortunate," Simba started.  
"There you go again," I complained.  
"I mean…Everyone here, and in the Pride Lands, wants me to succeed," Simba explained. "Sora, Shadow, Donald, and Goofy. Pumbaa, Timon, Rafiki….Nala. You all want what's best for me. But my father always had Scar lurking behind his back, trying to cut him down. I've got to make the most of my blessings, and rebuild this kingdom."  
"Are you gonna say it, or do it?" I asked.  
"Wait and see," Simba replied.  
"Simba!" Timon's voice rang out, and he raced into the oasis. "Simba! Come quick! There's a bazillion ghosts of Scar haunting the Pride Lands! Everybody but Nala high-tailed it out of there. And now she needs your help." Simba started to run back to Pride Rock. "Our little Simba…all grown up and finding his place in the world…"  
"Nice try. You're coming, too!" Simba said, seeing through Timon's words. We raced back to Pride Rock, where Pumbaa was standing between Nala and Scar's ghost in total fright.  
"We're here!" I announced as we ran over.  
"Where's Simba?!" Nala demanded in a panic. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I turned around and bowed as Simba walked past us.  
"I've come back, Nala," Simba said as he approached. He walked right up to Scar's ghost. "Get out!" The ghost vanished.  
"Way to go, Simba!" I praised as we ran over to him. Simba and Nala rubbed their muzzles together, at least until dark energy clashed in the Savannah.  
"Are you with me?" Simba asked us.  
"Now and forever, Your Majesty!" Sora and I said in unison, and the four of us bowed again. Sora, Simba, and I raced out to the Savannah, where the largest Heartless I had ever seen formed, called the Groundshaker. We fought a long, hard battle, but we came out as the victors against it. We returned to Pride Rock.  
"Simba seems fine, now," Sora remarked.  
"Ha! The king has returned!" Rafiki agreed. "The Pride Lands will not forget King Simba's courage. Or the courage of those who fought beside him."  
"Do you think your quest will ever be over?" Simba asked Sora and I.  
"We don't know…But we think, as long as the Keyblade and light stays with us…We'll have to keep fighting," we answered.  
"Ah…The struggle never ends. That is the great Circle of Life," Rafiki told us.  
"Never ever?" Sora said, looking disheartened.  
"The secret to victory…is a strong heart," Rafiki replied, looking to the sky, and we followed his gaze. "Go on, go on, go—go then!" he laughed. "Go on, get out! Yes, yes! It is time! Your fight continues…" He held up his staff.  
"Till we meet again, Your Majesty," Sora and I said to Simba respectively.  
"I hope that's soon," he replied with a smile.  
"It will be! So long!" we said in farewell. We left the Pride Lands, knowing this world was now protected.


	24. Back To Hollow Bastion & Space Paranoids

A/N: One last post for now, and then I'll post again later! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 24

Back To Hollow Bastion & Space Paranoids! But What's With All The Heartless?

We returned to Hollow Bastion, but when we got there, we saw Heartless running amok.  
"Wait a sec…I thought everything was supposed to be under control here!" Sora exclaimed. The town's defense system started up, but it looked different.  
"Hey, look!" Donald cried out, alerting us to it.  
"Must be Organization XIII again. We better go see Leon," I said firmly. We continued to the Borough, where Donald almost got hit by a security system device. Suddenly, several Strafer Heartless appeared, and we quickly fought and beat them. After they were gone, Yuffie opened the door to Merlin's House.  
"Come on in!" she told us urgently.  
"Wait just a second…What happened to this place?" Sora asked her.  
"Didn't that Heartless look like the ones from Tron's world?" Goofy wondered.  
"C'mon, just get inside!" she snapped impatiently. We followed her into the house, where Cid was typing at the computer. "Hurry up, Cid!"  
"Give me a second!" he snapped.  
"Confound it! Hurry!" Merlin rushed.  
"Why, you…!" Cid grumbled.  
"What's going on?" Sora and I asked, perplexed.  
"Talk about yer good timin'!" Cid said, turning around.  
"The MCP is wreaking havoc inside the computer," Yuffie explained.  
"Not again!" Donald groaned.  
"Accordin' to Leon, anyway…He went on over to Ansem's Study to find out what all the ruckus was about," Cid told us. He explained what happened. "Turns out the MCP is using the data in that computer to crank out Heartless. The MCP's been messin' around with the town's control system, too."  
"That MCP sure doesn't know when to quit, does it?" Yuffie remarked.  
"That's a computer program for ya," Cid added.  
"How's Tron doing?" I asked softly.  
"We can't reach him. We figure he must have been forced onto the game grid," Yuffie answered.  
"And it don't sound like a particularly fun game, either," Cid commented.  
"Awww…" Donald groaned.  
"We'll go check on Tron," Sora and I promised.  
"Thanks, kids. We're puttin' together an MCP Eradication Program. I got a hunch it's almost finished, too," Cid said.  
"Well, I hope your hunch is right for once!" Merlin said irritably. Cid shot him an angered look.  
"Listen, we're gonna need Tron's help when that Eradicator's finished…" Yuffie told us, trailing off.  
"Don't sweat it. We'll make sure to tell Tron!" I promised.  
"Remember, boys—we're counting on you," Merlin reminded us.  
"Roger!" we said, and Donald and Goofy nodded to us. We proceeded to the Postern, where we encountered Yuna, Rikku, and Paine.  
"Liars!" Yuna accused us when we walked over.  
"Wha—?" Sora said, bewildered.  
"Leon doesn't have any treasure!" Rikku snapped, her tiny hands clenched into fists.  
"And we fought for you guys," Paine added in her eerily calm voice.  
"Donald…?" Goofy said, looking at him.  
"Well, I had to tell them something!" Donald protested defensively.  
"I don't see how we're gonna work this out," Yuna said, seeming upset.  
"So what should we do?" Sora asked. The three fairies turned and started to talk amongst themselves while we waited patiently. Once they finished, they turned to us.  
"We're just going to take YOUR treasure," Yuna said simply.  
"But we don't have anything!" I protested, getting frustrated.  
"You sure?" Paine asked doubtfully. Rikku flew over and inspected me and Sora.  
"Hmm…let's take a look!" she said as she looked us over. She looked over Donald. "Mm-hmm…" She went over to Goofy and looked him over, too. "Oooh!" She flew back over to Yuna. "Hey, Yunie. I took a look, and sure enough…" She whispered something into Yuna's ear.  
"Okay, we've decided! The Gullwings are taking all your items!" Yuna declared.  
"You gotta be kidding me!" Sora complained.  
"Oh, foofie," Yuna said.  
"This stinks," Rikku muttered.  
"So not cool…" Paine said.  
"Look, sorry we tricked you, but…" I tried to explain.  
"Forget about it. Leon told us the whole story. He said your journey's been pretty rough," Paine explained.  
"So it wouldn't really be right if we took your things," Yuna added.  
"We'll root for you. Here, this is from us," Rikku chimed in. She raised her hand and a chest appeared.  
"Bye! Good luck on your journey!" Yuna said in farewell, and the three fairies vanished with magic. Sora and I opened the chest and discovered the Gull Wing Keychain. We continued to Ansem's Study, where Leon was. We walked into the computer room, and Leon drew his Gunblade on us. Aerith stood behind him.  
"Gawrsh, it's only us!" Goofy said to calm him down. Leon lowered his Gunblade as we walked in further.  
"You can't talk to Tron if this room gets taken over," Aerith told us.  
"Did you check in with Cid?" Leon asked.  
"Uh-huh," I answered, nodding.  
"And the Eradicator?"  
"Almost done," Donald replied.  
"Great!" Aerith said. "Leon, why don't you go work with Cid? I have this place under control."  
"Are you sure? All by yourself…?" he said, but trailed off when she gave him a miffed looked. "…Er, sorry. It's all yours."  
"How's Tron?" Sora asked.  
"We still can't get in touch with him. Maybe you guys should give it a shot," Leon suggested.  
"No, we'll go talk to him in person," Sora and I replied.  
"Then I have a favor to ask. When you find Tron, could you tell him to come to the I/O Tower? That's where we'll upload the Eradication Program," he told us.  
"The I/O Tower. Got it!" Goofy nodded.  
"Thanks. And watch your backs," he cautioned us. Sora and I walked up to the computer, its threat message still displayed.  
"We'll be there soon, Tron," Sora and I murmured. We accessed the computer and all four of us were transported to the Pit Cell. All around Space Paranoids, Heartless were walking around. It was slightly unnerving.  
"Gawrsh, I hope Tron's okay," Goofy said worriedly.  
"Us, too. Let's head for the game grid," Sora and I replied. We walked over to the terminal. "Great! The terminal works!"  
"Let's go!" Donald said eagerly. We arrived at the game grid, and saw Tron in amongst the Heartless running everywhere.  
"Tron!" Sora and I called to him. Tron threw his Identity Disk at one of them.  
"Careful…! Watch out!" he warned us. He caught the disk and one of the Heartless shot a ball of energy at him, knocking him to the ground.  
"Hold on!" Sora yelled, and we quickly fought off the Heartless, and then returned to the Pit Cell.  
"You really saved me," Tron said thankfully.  
"Don't mention it!" I replied with a smile.  
"What's going on here?" Donald asked Tron.  
"The MCP is ready to wage an all-out war against the Users," Tron answered. "What's been happening on the outside?"  
"Well, there's this machine for making Heartless—it's gone totally berserk…The town's control system is having problems, too. But Cid's putting together a program that can de-rezz the MCP. Once we pick it up at the I/O Tower, he thinks we can use it to stop the MCP for good," I explained.  
"Let's try it!" Tron said excitedly.  
"Great!" Sora said, seeming just as eager.  
"So who's this Cid?" Tron asked.  
"He's a friend of ours. Leon, Merlin, Aerith, Yuffie…They're all on the outside worrying about you, Tron," Sora told him.  
"I must have a lot of User friends," Tron realized. Sora nodded, and I chuckled.  
"That program oughta be done by now, don'tcha think?" Goofy asked, reminding us.  
"To the tower!" Donald declared, and we left for the I/O Tower. We ran through the Canyon and took a transport to the I/O Tower. We soon started to run through the hallway of the I/O Tower.  
"Almost there!" Tron said as we ran. Heartless got in our way, trying to block us.  
"Outta the way!" I snarled, and we all took out the Heartless. We made a mad dash to the Communication Room. Once in there, we waited around the center system.  
"Nothing's come in yet," Tron told us as we waited.  
"Leon! Come onnn!" Sora yelled impatiently. Suddenly, the system lit up and Tron smiled.  
"There!" he said.  
"All right!" Sora said eagerly. Tron jumped onto the system and pulled the Identity Disk off from his back. He held it up and it glowed, floating upward into the glowing system, and then returned with the program inside. Tron looked at the disk.  
"What's it like?" Goofy asked, looking interested.  
"This is very strange…" Tron murmured.  
"That's Merlin's magic!" Donald told him.  
"Huh? There's a power booster for me! And flight routines for the solar sailer!" Tron informed us.  
"Meaning…we're set?" Sora asked him. Tron jumped off from the system.  
"Well, as you Users say…we won't know till we give it a try!" Tron replied. Sora and I nodded in understanding. "We'll need a sailer to reach the MCP, so let's get to the simulation hangar!"  
We ran to the Simulation Hangar, and boarded the solar sailer simulation. Tron accessed the device and its sails appeared. The solar sailer left the hangar across the data stream, but while Tron was keeping up his guard, the rest of us were looking at the sights around us.  
"You've got to keep a lookout. The MCP isn't just going to let us waltz in," Tron pointed out to us, and when he did, Heartless appeared. We quickly fought off the Heartless before their combined weight could make the solar sailer fall. Soon after, the sailer stopped at the Central Computer Mesa. "The MCP is straight ahead," Tron told us.  
"Time to settle things for good," I said. Donald and Goofy nodded and we looked to the Central Computer Core. We ran into the Core and looked up to see a red spinning CPU. Sark was standing nearby.  
"Who was that?" Sora asked Tron.  
"Sark. The MCP's number two," Tron said, sounding disgusted by him.  
"Tenacious little bugs! Your time is up. Prepare for de-resolution!" Sark said threateningly. We quickly defeated Sark's Heartless, and then fought Sark himself. Once beaten, he was struggling to stay standing. "You're very persistent, Tron."  
"I'm also better than you," Tron replied with confidence.  
"We…would have made a great team…" Sark said weakly. Tron threw his Identity Disk at Sark, and it struck his helmet. Sark fell on the ground, data pulses dying off from him. We turned our attention to the large spinning column.  
"Now for the MCP!" Tron said determinedly.  
"This thing is the MCP?" I asked, kind of surprised.  
"That's it. Ugly, isn't it?" Tron confirmed.  
"Tron…Don't you understand? We don't need Users. We've advanced—they're superfluous. Be a part of me, and together the world will be ours to control!" the MCP said.  
"MCP. You still don't get it, do you?" Tron replied coldly, shaking his head. The MCP stopped spinning.  
"Sark…" the MCP said. The Commander's body was still lying there. "Sark! All my functions are now yours!" A wave of data shone down Sark's neck, and his body coursed with energy. The Commander stood up, now towering over us thanks to the power he now had. He stomped over to us as the MCP formed a data barrier around us. We managed to defeat Sark, and once he was down, we fired a beam from Tron's Identity Disk at the heart of the MCP. Once done, the MCP turned blue and vanished, and the data streams in Sark became corrupt and he disappeared, too. Tron jumped happily at the result.  
"We did it!" he cried out, overjoyed, and pumped his fist.  
"I see Tron has a silly side, too," Sora remarked, and I chuckled.  
"I learned it from you," Tron told us. "Of course, I do have my silly limits."  
"Okay, then we'll tweak your program when we get back to the User world," Sora replied.  
"You? Maybe we better not try that," Tron said, looking nervous.  
"Aww…How 'bout it, guys? Singin' Tron? Dancin' Tron!" Sora suggested to Donald and Goofy. He spun around, and I snickered. "Sound good?"  
"Yeah!" Donald agreed.  
"Okay, okay, fine," Tron chuckled. "But before I crash—Sora, Shadow, Donald, Goofy…and all the Users out there…Thank you…You really helped me. You made me so much stronger. You taught me what friendship is truly all about. And, I'll never forget it. As soon as I met you, I knew we were going to defeat the MCP and free the system." He held out his hand to Sora, and when Sora took his hand, Tron pulled us into a hug. I was pretty caught off guard, but I knew he meant well.  
"Uhh…" Sora said, and Tron pulled back.  
"Isn't this what Users do when they're sorry to say goodbye?" Tron asked, confused.  
"Uhhh…it's a first for me," Sora admitted.  
"Gawrsh, Tron, it's like a promise that we'll see each other again real soon," Goofy told him.  
"Okay. Well, then…" Tron nodded, understanding. He hugged Donald, and then Goofy. "I promise." He started to back away slowly.  
"Where are you going?" I asked. He waved, and then jumped into the core where the MCP was deleted. We ran to the edge and watched in horror as he fell.  
"Tron…" Sora and I murmured. Suddenly, we had to leave because of sudden rumbling as several systems came back online. We returned to the computer room in Hollow Bastion, and met up with Aerith and Yuffie.  
"You're here!" Aerith sighed happily.  
"Welcome back!" Yuffie greeted us. Sora and I nodded sadly.  
"How's the town?" I asked, expecting good news.  
"A-okay!" Yuffie answered.  
"Not a single trace of the MCP, either. Everything's back to normal. We made it," Aerith added.  
"Hey, why the long face?" Yuffie asked us, wagging her finger at Sora. "What happened?"  
"Tron just disappeared," Donald answered.  
"And he promised we'd see him again…" Sora added. Suddenly, an alarm sounded.  
"What's happening?!" Aerith yelped. The alarm soon stopped.  
"Greetings, friends. System is up, and ready for User input," Tron said from the computer.  
"Tron!" the four of us cried out happily.  
"Stay in touch," Tron told us.  
"Yeah!" Sora and I replied. Donald ran to the keyboard, placing his hands on the keys.  
"Oh boy, oh boy!" Donald said excitedly.  
"Hey, stop that! It tickles!" Tron protested.  
"Tron is ticklish?" Goofy said curiously. Sora grinned and started to walk to the computer while Goofy and I laughed.  
"How 'bout this!" Sora said, and he typed on the keyboard.  
"Please stop that!" Tron laughed. Sora, Donald, and I laughed some more as Sora continued typing.  
"I think Tron's been hanging around those guys too much," Yuffie said quietly to Aerith.  
"W-wait, wait just a moment," Tron said amidst his laughter. "I want to show you something I dug up from the system archives." Sora stopped typing as he spoke. "You can see the town back when it was first built." Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aerith, Yuffie, and I walked outside to the Postern.  
"You know, this town had another name once," Aerith told me and Sora.  
"Hm?"  
"Radiant Garden," she said. We soon left that world afterwards, knowing it was now safe.


	25. The Other Twilight Town!

A/N: We're getting closer to the end, guys! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 25

The Other Twilight Town! Roxas & Night's Twilight Town…

We returned to Twilight Town to solve the mystery of the picture and the ice cream, and as we walked, Goofy brought it up.  
"Hey! I think we're almost there!" he said as we walked. We paused and looked at him.  
"Huh?" Sora asked, confused.  
"What?" Donald said, equally confused.  
"Gawrsh, aren't we here because of the picture?" Goofy told us. He pulled out the photograph. "Look, I'll show ya!"  
"Yeah! Goofy's right!" Donald agreed.  
"C'mon, let's go find this mansion!" Goofy said.  
"Yeah!" Sora and I said. We walked to the Old Mansion, and when we got there, we saw Hayner, Pence, and Olette lying on the ground. The gate behind them was open. Sora and I ran to Hayner.  
"Hey, are you all right?" I demanded of him. Hayner started to get up. "What happened?"  
"We came here looking for Kairi," the sandy blonde replied. "Then those white things attacked us…"  
"You gotta be careful!" Donald told them.  
"Yeah, you guys didn't have to go and do that," Sora agreed.  
"Of course we did," Hayner snapped. "Kairi's our friend, too, ya know."  
"You're right…You know, I never thought of it like that before," Sora said.  
"Word is, this mansion gets a lot of really strange visitors," Hayner told us.  
"We thought this place might be the gateway to some kind of alternate Twilight Town," Olette explained.  
"What do you mean, alternate Twilight Town?" my brunette friend asked them.  
"Hey, Goofy, do you think we could see that crystal of yours?" Pence asked. Goofy nodded and pulled out the pouch and crystal.  
"I made that pouch myself, and I still have it," Olette said. "So there shouldn't be two of them here."  
"And this is the trophy Seifer gave you," Hayner added, holding up the Four Crystal Trophy. "You left it behind, remember?"  
"It's the only one of its kind," Pence explained. "Same for the crystals—red, blue, yellow, green—only one of each color. But you've got your own!"  
"So…where'd you get it?" Hayner asked. Sora and I thought back to when the King had given them to us.  
"The pouch is from the King," Goofy answered. "When he gave us munny for the train ride, he gave us the crystal, too."  
"But then…where did the KING get it?" Pence wondered.  
"See? There's gotta be another town out there like this one. That would explain how the King got that pouch and the crystal. Everything makes sense," Hayner said. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I looked at each other.  
"It…does?" Sora said, totally clueless. I smacked my forehead and groaned.  
"That other town must be where whatever's missing from here went!" Pence explained.  
"Like Kairi!" Olette added.  
"I get it!" Sora realized. Out of nowhere, a few Dusks appeared, but King Mickey suddenly appeared as well and sliced through them, destroying them.  
"Watch out!" he warned us. The four of us fought alongside King Mickey and beat the Nobodies. Once finished, Mickey turned to us. "I got somethin' to tell ya. I found out where Ansem is—Ansem the Wise! The real Ansem! He snuck into Organization XIII's stronghold."  
"And we've figured out where Kairi is!" Sora and I said excitedly. "We're pretty sure we're right."  
"But why'd you all come here?" the King asked.  
"Someone gave a clue," I answered.  
"Who?"  
"Well, Your Majesty, Sora and Shadow think it mighta been Riku and Kurai," Goofy told him.  
"It's just a feeling we had," we explained.  
"Well, if that's what ya think, you're probably right," Mickey replied simply.  
"You mean Riku and Kurai are okay!" I said eagerly.  
"If that's what ya think…" Mickey said again.  
"We've waited long enough, Your Majesty!" Sora and I said impatiently, Sora folding his arms. "Tell us what you know!"  
"It's not for me to say," Mickey said sadly.  
"But Your Majesty! Why?" we argued.  
"I don't wanna break my promise," he said quietly.  
"You made a promise to Riku and Kurai?! So they're okay! We can see them again!" we cried out excitedly. Mickey covered his mouth when he realized what he had said.  
"Huh? Who's Riku and Kurai?" Hayner asked as he walked over.  
"Our best friends," Sora and I told him.  
"That's IT!" Pence exclaimed.  
"Your Majesty? You got the pouch with the crystal from Riku and Kurai, didn't you?" Olette asked Mickey. "And you promised not to tell, right?"  
"Gosh, guys…" Mickey said, getting nervous.  
"That's enough!" Donald snapped.  
"Yeah. Let's go!" I said. Sora and I turned to face the mansion.  
"Riku! Kurai! Kairi! We're on our way!" Sora said determinedly. We all entered the Mansion Foyer.  
"There's gotta be a computer somewhere," Mickey commented as we walked in.  
"A computer…Do you think it's connected to that other Twilight Town?" Pence wondered.  
"It might be. And there should be a way into the Realm of Darkness there," Mickey agreed.  
"Riku and Kurai told you that, didn't they?!" Sora and I demanded of the King.  
"Please, Sora and Shadow. I made a promise," Mickey said quietly.  
"Hey! Stop pestering the King!" Donald scolded us.  
"Right. Sorry…" we said. We walked through the library, and then to the Computer Room. In there was a computer with several monitors.  
"There!" Mickey said.  
"We found it!" Sora said excitedly.  
"How does it work?" Donald wondered.  
"I can handle it," Pence told us, and he sat down at the computer and started pressing buttons. "Okay…Here we go…Ah!"  
"What's wrong?" Hayner asked.  
"I can't go any further without a password," Pence explained.  
"Do ya have any idea what the password might be?" Mickey asked. Sora and I thought about it.  
"Well, we only got this photo…" Goofy said, and pulled out the photo.  
"And the salty-sweet ice cream bar!" Donald reminded us.  
"Yeah, the one Donald ate up," I remembered, rolling my eyes at the memory.  
"It was in the box right next to the photo," Goofy told them.  
"Hey, that's it!" Mickey realized. "Ansem the Wise loved ice cream!"  
"Okay, what's the name of the flavor?" Pence asked us.  
"The name of the ice cream was…Sea-Salt Ice Cream," Sora and I told him. Pence typed it in.  
"It worked!" he exclaimed. An odd machine near the wall buzzed to life.  
"Let's go!" we said.  
"We'll be here to hold down the fort," Hayner told us.  
"Say hi to Kairi!" Olette added.  
"You bet!" we assured them. We entered the machine and were turned into data. We reappeared in the same room, or so we thought.  
"Are we back in the same place?" Sora wondered.  
"Look!" Donald said, and we turned to see the computer next to us totally destroyed.  
"This is the other Twilight Town," Sora and I said in unison. "Roxas and Night's Twilight Town." The two of us saw in our mind's eyes a boy dressed in black and white clothes with a silver dragon like me smashing the computer.  
"There's gotta be an entrance to the Dark Realm somewhere," Mickey said, his mind set. "Let's split up." Mickey ran into the Basement Hall, and we followed him. Inside, we saw a black and green portal of light.  
"There…" Sora and I murmured.  
"This is it," Mickey agreed. We went into the portal and found ourselves in Betwixt and Between. There were Nobody symbols that were floating everywhere in all directions.  
"What is this place?" I wondered.  
"Well, which way should we go?" Donald asked.  
"Riku! Kurai! Kairi!" Sora and I called out. Suddenly, Nobodies surrounded us from all sides. We tried to fight them, but they just kept coming. "It's no use!"  
"Don't stop moving, or the darkness will overtake you!" Axel's voice rang out. He jumped in and sliced at a few Nobodies with his chakrams. "Get goin'!"  
"Why?" Sora and I asked.  
"Don't ask. Just do it!" he ordered. Suddenly, two of the Dusks pulled Axel down. Sora and I ran over and attacked them, taking them out each with one shot.  
"You okay?" I asked as we helped him sit up.  
"I kidnapped Kairi, but she got away from me. After that, Saix caught her. He's a member of Organization XIII. Saix. Got it memorized? Now go save her!" he told us. A Dusk appeared out of nowhere and came straight at Axel, me, and Sora from behind. We whipped around and took it out.  
"Leave us alone!" we yelled, and I snarled. The three of us fought off the Nobodies, but there was no end in sight. Eventually, we ended up back to back to back, just the three of us.  
"I think I liked it better when they were on my side," Axel said.  
"Feeling a little…regret?" we taunted him.  
"Nah…I can handle these punks. Watch this!" he said, and leapt into the middle of the horde of Nobodies. He focused his energy, his chakrams spinning around him spouting fire. He screamed, and released an inferno that whirled around him. When it had cleared, the Nobodies were obliterated.  
"Whoa!" Sora and I gasped. We saw Axel lying on the floor nearby. We rushed to his side as he faded away.  
"You're…fading away…" Sora murmured sadly.  
"Well, that's what happens when you put your whole being into an attack. You know what I mean?" the redhead chuckled weakly. "Not that Nobodies actually HAVE beings…right? Anyway, I digress. Go, find Kairi. Oh, almost forgot…Sorry for what I did to her."  
"When we find her, you can tell her that yourself," Sora and I replied.  
"Think I'll pass. My heart just wouldn't be in it, you know? Haven't got one," he said, and laughed weakly again.  
"Axel, what were you trying to do?" we asked him.  
"I wanted to see Roxas and Night. They…were the only ones I liked…They made me feel…like I had a heart. It's kind of…funny…You both make me feel…the same…" he said, but stopped himself, his expression hardening once more. "Kairi's in the castle dungeon. Now go." He used the last of his strength to open a portal for us to go through.  
"Axel…" we murmured sadly as he faded away completely. I howled in mourning for the loss of him,, sounding like a wolf, and we stood up. We soon all four stood before the portal. "This leads to…"  
"Aw, come on! Let's get going!" Donald said impatiently. We left through the portal, and Sora gained the keychain for the Bond of Flame Keyblade. The Bond of Flame Keyblade represented Axel's chakrams. We soon exited the portal to a new world, which started in an alley of a dark city. Mickey walked back to the street and looked up at the sky. We walked over to see what he was staring at and saw a giant fortress floating in the sky with a heart-shaped moon. It was a haunting welcome to The World That Never Was.  
"Axel said Kairi's in the castle dungeon," Sora told the King. Thunder rumbled across the sky as dark clouds swirled.  
"Then we better find a way to get to that castle!" he replied determinedly. We left the Alley to Between and traveled through Fragment Crossing, fighting Shadow Heartless the whole way through. We eventually reached Memory's Skyscraper, and it started to rain. Sora and I looked up as lightning flashed through the sky. Suddenly, we heard the sound of steel on steel.  
"Sora, Shadow!" Donald cried out. We turned around and saw two Samurai Nobodies blocking Donald and Goofy.  
"Donald! Goofy!" we shouted. We tried to run to them, but our vision got hazy all of a sudden. We turned around and saw two figures in black cloaks appear behind us. The Oblivion Keyblade appeared in the tall one's hand, while the claws of the other began to glow.  
"A Keyblade?" Sora gasped.  
"Light?" I gasped at the same time. They ran at us, and we blocked their attacks, but in a flash, we were at the Station of Awakening. The tall one who was fighting Sora now had both Oblivion and Oathkeeper in his hands while my opponent used light at his disposal. Sora and his foe ran at each other, blocking the other's attacks, and I slashed at mine, our clashes at each other resembling that of a pair of rabid wolves fighting over territory.  
"Wh-who are you?" Sora and I demanded.  
"Someone from the dark," they spoke in unison. Sora and I knocked them back.  
"You can't be Riku?" Sora said to his opponent.

"You can't be Kurai?" I growled to mine at the same time.  
"Riku?...I defeated a Riku once," the tall one replied.

"Kurai?…I defeated a Kurai once," my foe answered at the same time his companion spoke.  
"You what?!" we said furiously.  
"Tell us…Tell us why they picked you both!" they yelled, and we fought them again. Sora's opponent ran at Sora, dragging his Keyblades along the ground with screeches, sending up sparks. He attacked Sora, but Sora dodged. Meanwhile, I was snapping and snarling at my opponent, and he was to me. We continued this as Sora and the other guy went at it. Sora blocked Oblivion with his Keyblade and knocked it away. Oathkeeper struck upward but was also parried. He struck downward again, and Sora continued to block. As Sora struck, the figure jumped into the air and spun, landing on his feet. My foe and I slashed at each other as they fought, and I darted with blinding speed back and forth to confuse him, but he kept perfect track of me. The figure who Sora was fighting jumped at the brunette and Sora leapt to dodge, but was hit by Oblivion and thrown up into the air. The cloaked young man jumped up toward him, and Sora flipped upside down and blocked both Keyblades, and then flew to the floor. My opponent and I took to an aerial battle for a moment, and he knocked me into the floor, hard. The pair hovered in the air and noticed the tiles on the floor of Riku, Kurai, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy.  
"We see. That's why," they said in unison again. They fell to the floor, where I resumed my fight and Sora with his. The figure Sora was fighting tried to strike him with Oblivion, but the brunette jumped away and continued to dodge his attacks. Sora deflected one strike, opening the way for the young man to pound relentlessly with his two Keyblades against Sora's one. I struggled to maintain my strength, and what happened next seemed to happen simultaneously. We both lost our fights, Sora getting his Keyblade knocked away as one knee gave in while my opponent pinned me to the ground. Sora tried to run to his Keyblade, but the young man stabbed his Oathkeeper into the floor between Sora and his Keyblade. Sora and I struggled against our anger. Sora held out his hand to summon the Keyblade, and it vanished from the Oathkeeper's hold. I realized my tail wasn't pinned, and I swiftly used my tail to yank my opponent back away from me.  
"What?!" the pair gasped at the same time. The Keyblade flashed into Sora's hand, and our next moves were timed perfectly: Sora slashed down as I crunched onto my foe's neck with my fangs. Once that happened, the pair began to walk forward, the two Keyblades dropping from the young man's hands and clattering on the ground, and then vanishing. They stumbled forward, their hoods falling off. The young man's golden blonde hair showed as my foe's silver head showed. They stood up and turned slightly to us.  
"You make good others," they said in perfect harmony. The world faded to white and Sora and I were back at Memory's Skyscraper. It had stopped raining.  
"You make good others," we murmured, pondering the pair's last statement.  
"Are you both okay?" Donald asked as he and Goofy approached.  
"What…just happened?" we asked.  
"Gawrsh, I dunno. You both just disappeared. Then me and Donald had to fight some Nobodies," Goofy answered.  
"Oh. They said…they defeated Riku and Kurai…" we said.  
"Who said that?" Donald demanded.  
"Those guys. In the black coats," We explained.  
"But nobody could defeat Riku and Kurai," Donald pointed out.  
"Y…yeah. You're right," we agreed.  
"Black coats mean Organization XIII. They musta been tryin' to trick ya," Goofy told us.  
"Yeah, that must be why we didn't see them!" Donald realized.  
"Huh?" we said, confused.  
"You must be tired, Sora and Shadow," Donald told us.  
"C'mon, let's just find a way to get into that castle!" Goofy said. Donald and Goofy walked on ahead, and Sora and I took one last look behind us before heading out after the others. We soon met with King Mickey at the Brink of Despair, where the road ended.  
"Dead end?" I asked the King.  
"There's gotta be a path somewhere," he replied determinedly. We saw a section of the flying castle shine brightly, and Sora and I blocked the blinding light with our hands. The Keyblade appeared, and Sora took it, and my claws glowed in response. We focused our energy at the castle and a beam shot out from the Keyblade while another beam shot out from a focus point in my claws. Once they shot out, a ramp appeared.  
"Kairi…We're almost there," Sora and I said quietly. We all five walked up the ramp and into Nothing's Call. "Kairi! Where are you?"  
"Shhhh! Remember where we are! This is their stronghold!" Mickey hissed at us, and ran off.  
"Wait! Your Majesty!" Donald called after him.  
"Be careful! I think we got company!" Goofy warned us. We fought some Nobodies as we continued through Nothing's Call to Crooked Ascension. We entered Twilight's View and readied ourselves for a fight in the Hall of Empty Melodies. We walked in, ready for just about anything.  
"Sora, Shadow…You've done well," Saix's voice called to us. We looked and saw Saix on a very elaborate high ledge.  
"Where's Kairi?" Sora demanded as I snarled.  
"Who knows? I expect she's catching up with her friends from the darkness," Saix replied.  
"What do you mean?!" we yelled.  
"She doesn't need you anymore," the blunette said simply.  
"We're supposed to believe that?" we snapped at him.  
"Well, you don't have to…But you can believe this. Organization XIII has no further use for either one of you…Just look there," he said, pointing to the heart-shaped moon. "Our Kingdom Hearts…Thanks to you, we've collected countless hearts…Can you hear their euphoria? Now, all they need is one more helping from the Keyblade and light bearers!" He snapped his fingers and hundreds of Shadow Heartless emerged from the walls.  
"We gotta fight!" Donald cried out.  
"But—Kingdom Hearts!" Sora and I said in desperation.  
"Sora! Shadow!" we heard Kairi's voice call out to us from above. We looked and saw Kairi standing on a ledge above us. "Sora! Shadow! It's really you!"  
"Kairi!" Sora and I shouted to her. Shadows covered us piling on top, and Kairi gasped.  
"You leave Sora and Shadow alone!" she yelled at the Heartless. Sora and I struggled and pushed the Heartless off from us.  
"Get off!" we growled, and stood up. We looked up and saw Kairi fighting alongside Ansem and a dark creature against the Heartless. "What's going on?!" Suddenly, a single shot of what looked like a laser arrow landed nearby, destroying a Heartless. We looked at it, but then a myriad of projectiles obliterated the Heartless surrounding us.  
"Have you been good boys?" Xigbar's voice called out.  
"Show yourself!" we ordered. Xigbar appeared on the elaborate ledge.  
"Oh, it sounds like you haven't," he remarked. "Sora and Shadow! Roxas and Night!"  
"Roxas and Night? Did he just call us Roxas and Night?" Sora and I asked Donald for clarification. He nodded.  
"You've both really put Organization XIII in a pickle. I guess that must be why the Keyblade and light chose you. But MAN, did they pick a pair of duds this time. Neither of you look like half the heroes the others were," he said, rambling.  
"Are you done rambling?" we demanded.  
"Rambling? As if!" he retorted. "All I'm trying to tell you, traitors, is that your time is up!" He threw his hands up and his shooting katars appeared. He threw them to his sides and cocked them.  
"Here he comes!" Goofy shouted in warning. Xigbar jumped down and smirked at us. Sora, Donald, Goofy, and I fought Xigbar hard, using a barrage of our strongest magic, preferably Thundaga. We eventually fought Xigbar until he could no longer hold his weapons. They clattered to the floor.  
"Why did you call us Roxas and Night?" Sora and I demanded. Xigbar looked up at us.  
"Wouldn't you like to know…" he said, fading away.  
"Hey! Hold on!" we said, but it was too late.  
"Sora, Shadow! It's Kairi!" Donald said, reminding us, and we took off to go to her. We fought through the area, and finally, finally got to Kairi, Ansem, and Ansem's creature.


	26. The World That Never Was, Final Fight!

A/N: Second to last chapter! Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Shadow, Kurai, & Night.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 26

The World That Never Was…The Final Fight!

"Kairi, you were great!" Donald praised.  
"Oh?" Kairi said, and she turned to us, bashfully flipping her hair. Sora and I walked up to her.  
"You are different, Kairi, but I'm just glad you're here!" Sora told her.  
"You two and Riku and Kurai never came home, so I came looking for you," she replied. Sora and I looked away from her.  
"We're sorry," we murmured. Kairi rushed up and hugged Sora, much to his surprise, and I jumped off from the brunette's shoulder to let them have their moment.  
"This is real…" Kairi whispered. Sora hugged her back, and a portal appeared behind Ansem and his creature, and they started to walk to it.  
"Wait, Ansem! I mean, Xehanort's Heartless…" Sora said, and Kairi pulled away from Sora. I jumped back onto his shoulder. Ansem and his partner stopped and the portal vanished.  
"We never thought for a second that we'd ever see YOU again. Just thinking about all the things you did makes us really mad. But…but you saved Kairi, right? We have to be grateful for that. Thanks," we said. They started to leave again, but Kairi ran over and grabbed Ansem's arm, stopping them.  
"Riku, Kurai, don't go!" she begged them. The four of us stared at her in shock, but I was less surprised. 'I KNEW it!' I thought to myself. I still couldn't hide my slight sadness of seeing my old friend transformed into a Heartless-like monster.  
"Huh?" Donald and Goofy gasped.  
"Kairi, what did you just say?" Sora and I asked for clarification.  
"Riku and Kurai," she repeated.  
"We're no one—just castaways from the darkness," Ansem and Kurai said coldly.  
"Sora, Shadow, come here. Say something to them," Kairi told us. We walked over to her, and she took our hands. "Here. You'll understand." She placed our hands with Ansem's. "Close your eyes." We did as she instructed, and closed our eyes, Ansem and Kurai watching us. We saw Riku in a black coat with Kurai back to his old, dark grey self on Riku's shoulder, and the silverette was holding Sora, Kairi, and my hands. We opened our eyes in realization.  
"Riku…It's Riku. Riku's here…" Sora whispered in shock. I whimpered loudly as I watched my friend with happiness The brunette fell to his knees, still holding Riku's hand, and I jumped onto the silverette's shoulder to join Kurai, trying to hold back tears of joy. Too late for Sora, as tears rolled down his face. "We looked for you!"  
"C'mon, Sora. You've got to pull it together," Riku told him. I stared at him in shock; Riku shouldn't be telling Sora that when he hadn't been with his best friend for over a year.  
"We looked everywhere for you guys!" we said in unison.  
"I didn't want either of you to find us," Kurai replied.  
"But it was them that were helpin' us, wasn't it?" Goofy said.  
"Huh?" Donald said, perplexed.  
"Those clues we kept finding. That musta been Riku and Kurai," Goofy explained.  
"I was starting to worry you guys weren't ever gonna catch on," Riku said. "Sora and Shadow never did pick the brightest friends."  
"What do you mean by that?!" Donald demanded.  
"Why didn't you let us know you were both okay?" I asked him.  
"We told you. We didn't want to be found. Not like this…" they said, and looked at themselves. "We couldn't. We fought with Ansem. With…Xehanort's Heartless—when it invaded our hearts, and we won.

"But to use the power of darkness, I had to become Ansem myself," the silverette sighed.

"And I had to accept darkness into my body," Kurai added.  
"Does that mean…you can't change back?" Kairi asked him.  
"This battle isn't over," Riku explained. "And until it is, we still need the power of darkness."  
"Then…let's finish it. You're still Riku and Kurai, no matter what!" Sora and I assured him, and the others nodded in agreement. "So how 'bout it: Think we can handle one last rumble together? The King's waiting!" we said to Donald and Goofy.  
"Yeah! Let's get going!" Donald said eagerly. The six of us entered the Proof of Existence, where all but three of the carved stones were damaged. The place felt like a graveyard, and it was eerie. We entered one of them and ended up in Havoc's Divide. We looked up to Kingdom Hearts and saw a beam connected to it.  
"What's that?" I asked from Sora's shoulder.  
"It's the King and DiZ—I mean, Ansem the Wise," Kurai explained. "They must be higher up. We better hurry." Sora and I nodded, but when we started to leave, Luxord appeared, separating us from the rest of the group. He snapped his fingers and large cards rose and covered Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kurai, and Kairi. The cards spun around them, and when the cards flew away, our friends were gone.  
"You!" I snarled.  
"I'd rather we just skip the formalities," Luxord said with a smirk. We fought a time-based battle against Luxord and won. As Sora and I dashed in for the final blow, Luxord surrounded himself with a barrier of cards, but they proved to be no match against the Keyblade and light. We slashed right through them, slicing them in half and striking Luxord.  
"How could you…Roxas and Night…" Luxord said weakly as he faded.  
"That's SORA and SHADOW!" we yelled at him furiously. Luxord faded away, and our friends returned from the cards.  
"You okay?" Kairi asked us.  
"Yeah! No worries. Let's keep moving," we assured her. We returned to the Proof of Existence, and we entered the next area in there: Addled Impasse. We found Saix in there, gazing at Kingdom Hearts through the large window wall. He smiled evilly at us when we entered.  
"Only you two could have made it this far in one piece…Roxas and Night," he said, his claymore in his hand.  
"That's really getting old!" Sora and I shouted at him. Donald and Goofy stepped in front of us.  
"Yeah! They're Sora and Shadow!" Donald yelled at him. Saix's claymore became super-sharp with blades around the points.  
"Different names, same fates," he said indifferently. He thrust his claymore forward and sent a wave of vibration forward toward us. Riku and Kurai ran to cover Kairi, and it sent them sliding forward. A barrier formed and they were blocked out, so they could only watch as we fought Saix. We fought and intense battle against Saix, his claymore proving to be quite a powerful weapon. He would absorb some of the moon's power as his own, and would go into a berserk mode. He charged at us, slashing with the claymore, and bellowing with rage. Eventually, we tired him out and took him down. Once beaten, Saix dropped his claymore onto the ground and turned toward the window, looking up at the heart-shaped moon.  
"Why…Kingdom Hearts…Where is my heart?" he said weakly. He reached out to it as he faded away. Sora and I stared for a moment where he was and turned then to Riku and Kurai.  
"We don't get it. Why's everybody been calling us Roxas and Night?" we asked him, looking frustrated and confused.  
"Because, Sora and Shadow. Roxas and Night are your Nobodies," Riku said simply.  
"Our…Nobodies? But that's crazy, we never turned into Heart…Oh, right," we said, remembering.  
"It was when you came to rescue me, remember?" Kairi reminded us.  
"Xemnas was the one who found Roxas and Night. They could use the Keyblade and light because they were your Nobodies. That's why Xemnas brought them into the Organization—But Roxas and Night betrayed them. After that we fought them because we thought it would help wake you up. We lost, but the next time we met we made sure we were the stronger ones," Kurai explained. "Maybe we didn't need to fight them after all. I think they left the Organization because…they really wanted to meet you both."  
"Roxas and Night…We wish we could meet them, too," Sora and I murmured. Riku walked closer and pointed to our hearts. Sora also pointed and looked at Riku, who nodded.  
"All right. Let's go," Kurai said finally, and we left for the Proof of Existence. We soon headed up the stairs to Naught's Approach. We saw King Mickey and Ansem the Wise standing nearby when we got up there.  
"Your Majesty!" Sora called out as we ran over.  
"No!" Mickey protested to Ansem as we approached. Riku grabbed the King's arm. "Riku! Kurai!"  
"His heart's decided. We can't change that," Riku told him firmly. Suddenly, Xemnas appeared.  
"I was wondering who would dare interfere with my Kingdom Hearts. And look—here you all are. How convenient for me. Ansem the Wise…You look pathetic," Xemnas said.  
"Have your laugh. I deserve as much for failing to see you for the fool you are," Ansem retorted.  
"Students do take after their teachers," Xemnas replied. "Only a fool would be your apprentice. After all, none of this would have happened without you. YOU are the source of all Heartless. It was your research that inspired me to go further than you ever dared."  
"I admit…my disregard brought chaos to more worlds than one," Ansem admitted. "But what were YOU seeking? You erased me from the world, only to take my name and continue research better left forgotten…Is this the answer you've been looking for?"  
"All that and more," Xemnas replied simply. "I'm carrying on what you yourself began, and I'm creating a brand new world, one heart at a time. I thought you'd praise me, but all you ever do is hold me back. I understand, though. Unlike me, you have a heart. And you're powerless to control it. Consumed, by the jealousy you feel toward the student that surpassed you."  
"Xehanort. Foolish apprentice of a foolish man," Ansem told him. "You have surpassed nothing—only proved how little we both know. We may profess to know the heart, but its true essence is beyond our reach. We're both ignorant—as oblivious as when we began. I'm afraid that any world you try to create…Any world of yours…would be an empire of ignorance. That is why you and your creation are destined to fall!" Electricity surged through and around the device he held. "We've said enough! Riku, Kurai, you know what to do! King Mickey, my friend, forgive me! Farewell!"  
The machine sparked and exploded, and Sora and I tried to run to Ansem, but Riku and Kurai held us back. Kairi held on to Mickey as Donald tripped when he tried to run in front of Goofy. Light flashed and pushed us backwards in a giant swirling tunnel. When Sora and I awoke, we saw Riku and Kurai next to us with Riku's flowing silver hair and a blindfold on. Kurai lay next to him, back to his old dark grey armor. His armor no longer bore a Heartless emblem, either.  
"Riku?" Sora said, and the silverette woke up. He picked himself up onto his knees. "Riku!"

"Kurai!" I cried out, and scurried over to my friend's side.  
"Wow!" Donald and Goofy gasped.  
"Riku! Kurai!" Kairi said happily.  
"Ansem did say 'anything could happen'…" Mickey told us. Riku, Kurai, Sora, and I looked ahead.  
"Riku, you gonna take that off?" Sora asked him regarding the blindfold.  
"Oh…" Riku said, and he pulled of the blindfold, finally revealing his aqua eyes.  
"What was that?" I asked as Kurai perched on Riku's shoulder.  
"His eyes couldn't lie," Mickey explained.  
"Lie? And just who were you trying to fool? Huh? Huhhh?" Sora asked teasingly.  
"Myself," Riku replied calmly.  
"Riku…Kurai…C'mon, man! Why did you try to do so much on your own?" Sora asked. We ran to the others.  
"You've got friends…like us!" I reminded him. Riku and Kurai looked at each of them in turn.  
"Have you forgotten? I'll tell you both why," Riku said. "'Cause I'm not a total sap like you." He smirked.  
"Say that again!" Sora dared him. Tons of hearts were flying to Kingdom Hearts which had taken on a darker look as though infected. We looked down below and saw millions of Heartless storming the castle.  
"Uhhhh-oh!" Donald yelped.  
"What should we do, Riku and Kurai?" Sora and I asked him.  
"We must defeat Xemnas. He's the Organization's last survivor," Kurai answered.  
"Right!" we agreed, and Riku whipped off the coat.  
"C'mon!" the silverette and his partner said, and we nodded. The coat flew through the air as we entered Ruin and Creation's Passage. We fought our way along the floating platforms, but before we could run to the next area, Kairi got our attention.  
"Sora! Shadow! Riku! Kurai!" she yelled, and we ran over to see her pointing at the oddly shaped windows where Heartless were literally pouring in. They started to crawl up the hexagonal pathways between the platforms.  
"There's gonna be no end to this," Riku said in horror, and Kurai shuddered.  
"Together we can stop 'em!" Sora and I replied determinedly. Suddenly, Maleficent and Pete appeared in front of us.  
"Be gone from here!" she ordered us. "Leave these creatures to us!"  
"Bu there's no way we can take 'em all!" Pete protested.  
"I will be sending them after Xemnas," she explained. "Or, perhaps, you would rather fight them yourself?" Pete thought about that one.  
"Frankly my dear, I'd rather….RUN!" he told her.  
"Off with you then!" she snapped at him. Pete backed away slowly until he saw Mickey.  
"Well, if it ain't the boat-boy King," he remarked.  
"Time to weigh anchor, Captain Pete!" Mickey replied.  
"What, like 'abandon ship'? I don't think so!" Pete argued.  
"Sora! Shadow! 'Your Majesty'! Do not forget—when I've destroyed them all, this castle shall be mine!" Maleficent told us.  
"Now lookie here. Opportunities like this don't come along every day, ya know," Pete added. He rejoined Maleficent. "Bring 'em on!" They rushed into the brawl.  
"We gotta hurry," the King said.  
"But…" Sora and I murmured with worry.  
"They're doing what their hearts command," the King told us. "We can't interfere." We continued onward to the Altar of Naught, where Xemnas had his arms raised to the heart-shaped moon.  
"Ohh…My Kingdom Hearts…ruined. Now I'll have to start all over again," he said. He turned to face us. "Warriors of the Keyblade and light! Go forth, and bring me more hearts!"  
"No!" Sora, Riku, Kurai, Mickey, and I said, and the three Keybearers pointed their Keyblades at him defiantly while Kurai and I bared our fangs.  
"Denizens of light, answer this: Why do you hate the darkness?" Xemnas asked us.  
"Aw, we don't hate it. It's just kinda…scary," Mickey answered. "But the world's made of light AND darkness. You can't have one without the other, 'cause darkness is half of everything. Sorta makes ya wonder why we are scared of the dark."  
"It's because of who's lurking inside it," Riku said.  
"Then allow me another question," Xemnas replied. "You accept darkness, yet choose to live in the light. So why is it that you loathe us who teeter on the edge of nothing? We who were turned away by both light and dark—never given a choice?"  
"That's simple. It's because you mess up our worlds," I answered from Sora's shoulder.  
"That may be…However, what other choice might we have had?" Xemnas said.  
"Just give it a rest!" Sora snapped finally. "You're Nobodies! You don't even exist! You're not sad about anything!"  
"Very good. You don't miss a thing," Xemnas chuckled. "I cannot feel—sorrow…No matter what misery befalls the worlds. No matter what you think, what you feel, or how you exist." Suddenly, Xemnas threw his arms up into the air and energy surrounded all of us there. When the brightness cleared, Sora and I were at Memory's Skyscraper, but the landscape was completely warped and the environment waved like a flag in the background, almost nonexistent. We looked about for our friends in a panic for a split second.  
"Guys!" we called out. They weren't there, and we knew we had to fight a two on one battle with Xemnas. Xemnas stood before us, and then he vanished, creating a barrier around us that sapped at our energy. Xemnas reappeared at the top of the skyscraper, and we ran to the base of the building. The energy depleting barrier vanished, and Sora and I dashed up the building to confront Xemnas. As we did, Xemnas's hands coursed with blue electricity. He jumped up, flipped downward, and conjured two red beam swords, one in each hand. He flew down the tower and we met him in the middle of the giant video screen. Sora and I slammed Xemnas into the building, stunning him, and we all three fell to the ground. Sora and I decided to use our Final Form, which we had gained after our fight with Roxas and Night. We flashed with a burst of light, and Sora and I hovered above the ground, both us glowing with silver aura. Sora's clothes were sliver with black stripes that were scattered on his clothes here and there, while my body was silver and had the same black stripes on me as well. We glided after Xemnas, and Sora had the ability to use two Keyblades at once, and they both hovered behind his back as he flew, but when he fought, the Keyblades slashed without Sora even touching them. My new abilities allowed me to use my most powerful light attacks at my disposal, and I took advantage of that, twisting around and blasting light attacks at Xemnas. Soon, he fell to our powerful attacks, and we reverted back to our own forms. Xemnas lay on the ground before us, and he faded away.  
"Sora! Shadow! Where are you?" Kairi's voice called out to us. Everything went white.  
"Sora, Shadow, answer me!" Riku and Kurai yelled as well, and we both fell onto the floor at the Altar of Naught, reunited with our friends once more.  
"You're both okay!" Mickey said, relieved.  
"Where's Xemnas?" I demanded urgently. Donald looked around and saw Xemnas inside the heart-shaped moon.  
"What?!" Donald gasped, and we all looked at Xemnas.  
"Hear me, Kingdom Hearts!" Xemnas was saying. "It seems we must begin anew. Ah, but know this: I will give to you as many hearts as it takes. Mark my words! You can no more be complete without me than I without you. Heed me, Kingdom Hearts! Lend me your power, so that we may be complete! The power to erase the fools that hinder us."  
"Xemnas! No!" Mickey shouted.  
"Hearts quivering with hatred…"  
"Xemnas! Don't!" Sora and I begged.  
"Hearts burning with rage…"  
"You'll never win!" Donald yelled.  
"Hearts scarred by envy…" Xemnas continued. "That fool Ansem said the heart's true nature was beyond his understanding. But it's not beyond mine! Hearts are the source of all power!" The moon glowed insanely bright, and when we looked again, Xemnas was gone.  
"Xemnas! You can't hide from us!" Sora and I yelled to wherever he was.  
"We can't let him get away now!" Mickey told us.  
"Look at that!" Kairi said, and a giant door appeared before us.  
"What's goin' on?" Goofy wondered.  
"Kingdom Hearts…" Mickey murmured.  
"Let's go. Xemnas must be inside," Kurai growled.  
"The worlds gave us this doorway," Mickey said calmly. "They want us to be the guardians of their destiny!"  
"Once we go through, there's no turning back," Riku told me and Sora. "It's victory…or oblivion. So, Sora and Shadow…are you ready?" Sora and I walked over to the door.  
"Beyond this door is the beginning of the end of your journey," a voice said to us in our minds as we approached. "Are you prepared for what lies ahead?"  
"Let's end this!" Sora and I said firmly. Mickey, Riku, and Sora touched their Keyblades together, and Kurai and I hovered above, focusing our light energy. They raised them up, and energy beams shot from the tips and from our focus points in our claws. The door opened, and we braced ourselves for what lied ahead.  
"Get ready, Xemnas! It all ends here!" Sora and I said in unison. The eight of us entered the doorway, and we saw almost an entire world inside. Sora and I gasped as we saw Xemnas in the center of it all.  
"So…it seems your hearts have led you to obliteration," he remarked as he saw us. "Perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I will have to be sure and remember that." He sent a building flying at us, and we ran back as the building collapsed to the ground. The door started to close with Mickey and Kairi on the other side.  
"No!" Riku cried out, reaching out for them. We were too late and the door closed. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kurai, and I stood and readied ourselves.  
"We can take him on our own!" Sora declared as he and Riku summoned their Keyblades. Kurai and my claws glowed in response. Several windowed walls punched up from the ground, blocking our path. Sora and I sliced through them with ease, and we continued. As we approached, Xemnas's giant mecha slammed into the ground, and the platform we were standing on rose up to its level. Several buildings flew through the air toward us, and Sora and I ran through, slashing through them and dashing. He used the Keyblade while I used my claws. We sliced through the last one, and we were sent to the cylinder of the flying mecha. Nobodies appeared, and we sent them flying into the core of the cylinder. We jumped onto the side pipes, dodging the large wave of energy that erupted from the cylinder. We then jumped onto the next cylinder and slid across the grate. We repeated the process of sending Nobodies into this cylinder, and we dodged and reached the other cylinder in time as another wave of energy erupted from it. We repeated this process again, and this time, we dodged the explosion. We did it again with the second cylinder, and once we dodged the explosion, we leapt up to the energy core. Riku, Kurai, Sora, and I used our Limit: Session. We used a quick series of combos, followed by jabbing attacks. After that, Last Saber was used, and that was another series of jabbing attacks. We followed that with Dark Cannon, launching a series of dark fireballs at the energy core. Eventually, we used Master Hearts, and Sora and Riku used their Keyblades in long-range slashes while Kurai and I launched a light energy beam. Then, we used XIII Blades, and that was thirteen blades that slashed at the energy core. We used Master Hearts again, and then finished the combo with All's End. Sora and Riku threw their Keyblades into the air, and Kurai and I darted to the center above it. The two weapons fired light and dark energy while my friend and I drew in the enemies for the attack to work. The Nobodies scattered around the room we were drawn in, and we destroyed them all. We finished the combo and Sora and Riku caught their Keyblades, and the four of us bumped our fists together. We soon came face to face with Xemnas, sitting like a king, armored on his throne.  
"Cursed fools!" Xemnas yelled at us, and we fought a long, hard fight against him. Once beaten, Xemnas screamed in agony. We all appeared back at the Altar of Naught, and Xemnas fell to his knees, clutching his chest. "I need…more rage…I need more… hearts…"  
"Xemnas. There's more to a heart than just anger or hate," Sora and I told him calmly. "It's full of all kinds of feelings. Don't you remember?"  
"Unfortunately…I don't…" he said, and he faded away from existence. We looked at each other, ready to celebrate.  
"Gosh, you all did great!" Mickey praised us. Sora and I walked over to Riku and Kurai.  
"You're coming back with us, right?" I asked him hopefully.  
"I had given in to the darkness," they replied.  
"Riku, Kurai!" we protested.  
"How'm I gonna face everyone?" they demanded of us.  
"Like this!" Sora said, and squished his face in, making Riku and Kurai laugh loudly. Suddenly, the building shook.  
"Hurry!" Mickey said urgently.  
"I'll open a path!" Riku and Kurai told us, and they held out their hands but nothing happened.  
"You don't belong in the dark realm anymore, Riku and Kurai," Mickey explained.  
"How do we get out of here, Your Majesty?" Donald asked the King. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Kurai, and I turned and saw an image of a girl in white standing nearby. She opened a portal, and Mickey and Donald ran right through her over to the portal. "Who did this?"  
"Well, I'm not sure. But we better hurry and get through," the King replied. Pluto's bark sounded, and he ran around Donald and Mickey then into the portal.  
"Wait for me!" Goofy called after him, and he ran in after Pluto. Mickey followed him.  
"Hurry!" Donald told us impatiently, and he ran in after them. The girl in white appeared again as we walked over. I was perched on Sora's shoulder.  
"Thank you, Naminé," Kairi told her.  
"Sure," she said, and turned to Sora and I. "See? We meet again, like we promised."  
"Huh?" Sora and I said, bewildered.  
"You said we'd meet again, but when we did, we might not recognize each other," a pair of voices said. Roxas and Night stepped out from Sora and I. The brunette and my expressions were stunned, to say the least.  
"I did, didn't I?" Naminé replied.  
"But we knew you," Roxas and Night said.  
"Mmm…It's strange," Naminé murmured.  
"We think we understand. We see ourselves the way you remember us. And you see yourself the way we remember you," Roxas and Night explained.  
"I always thought that Nobodies were doomed to fade back into darkness…" Naminé told them.  
"Yeah, but you and the two of us didn't. We got to meet our original selves," the pair said.  
"So, we can be together again!" Naminé realized. Roxas, with Night on his shoulder, walked over to Naminé's side.  
"Right. Anytime Sora, Shadow, and Kairi are together," Roxas and Night agreed.  
"We'll be together every day. Right, Sora and Shadow?" Kairi said.  
"Uh…yeah!" Sora said after a pause, and I chuckled. Kairi took Naminé's hand, and the pair glowed as she transferred into Kairi.  
"Look sharp!" Roxas and Night said to Sora and I. Sora and I straightened up slightly, and Roxas and Night glowed as they transferred into us, and our bodies glowed slightly in response as they transferred back into us.  
"Huh?" Sora said, checking himself.  
"Don't worry. You're both all still you," Riku and Kurai assured us.  
"Hey, let's go home!" Kairi said as she stood next to the portal.  
"Riku…Kurai…C'mon," we told our friends.  
"Yeah," he agreed. Kairi walked into the portal, but when she did, it started to close. We ran to it as she turned back.  
"Sora! Shadow! Riku! Kurai!" she cried out in desperation, but it was too late; it dissipated before our eyes.  
"What?" Sora said, and there was a flash of light. We looked to see a nesting core, and the giant flying mecha burst out from it and flew towards the tower. It knocked into the tower, roaring, and the tower started to break and collapse. We started to slide toward the ground, but Riku and Kurai spotted a hovercraft and ran towards it. "Riku! Kurai!" Sora gasped as they ran towards it. They jumped off of the falling tower and landed on the hovercraft. Riku flew it over to us as Kurai hovered in the air beside him.  
"Sora! Shadow!" the silverette called, and Sora jumped on the little platform on the craft as I spread my wings and jumped into the air, becoming airborne with Kurai. We soon caught up to the mecha and started firing lasers at it, and whenever enemies would fire at us, Kurai and I projected a barrier to block the lasers they shot. We eventually charged up enough power to fire a mega laser, and we repeated the process several times until the mecha was defeated. We watched from the hovercraft as it crashed to the ground. Suddenly, energy swirled around it, and the area filled with smoke. When the smoke cleared, we saw a larger mecha with even more guns equipped to it. We flew over on the hovercraft and saw an armored Xemnas sitting on his throne again, but this time we knew he had more tricks up his sleeve. We jumped off, but the hovercraft was lost to the huge swirling abyss behind us. The two Keyblade wielders readied their Keyblades as Kurai and I bared our fangs and unsheathed our claws. We started to fight him, and he sent us flying towards the abyss.  
"Nothingness is eternal!" Xemnas shouted from his throne. As Sora and I flew back to the nearest still building that WASN'T flying at us, Xemnas said, "Riku…Kurai…are you sure you're not jealous of Sora and Shadow?" We soon smashed it forward, Riku and Kurai on top of it and flying to the mecha that had braced itself with a shield. Riku and Kurai hacked through it, and we swiftly dodged Xemnas's attacks as they came. We dropped back down, ready for the next round. Xemnas knocked us back into the abyss again after a few attacks, and we glided over to the nearest still building again. As we smashed it forward with Riku and Kurai balanced on it again, Xemnas taunted, "Sora and Shadow…are you sure you can trust Riku and Kurai?" The silverette and dragon shot forward again, and slashed the shield, breaking through it once more. Xemnas shouted, "Embrace nothing! Hearts are power!" We ignored his words and continued to attack him. Once beaten, everything went white. We appeared in a gray and white area, and Xemnas stood before us in a black and white cloak.  
"Heroes from the realm of light…" he started. "I will not allow it to end this way—not yet. If light and darkness are eternal, then surely we nothings must be the same…Eternal!"  
"You're right, light and darkness are eternal," Riku and his dragon agreed. "Nothing probably goes on forever, too."  
"But guess what, Xemnas?" I said.  
"That doesn't mean YOU'RE eternal!" Sora told him.  
"No more eternal than that radiance of yours…" Xemnas chuckled. His hands sparked with blue energy. "Anger and hate are supreme." Xemnas threw Sora and I into the air, and us plus Riku and Kurai had to use Reversal several times in order to dodge his thorned vines and red lasers. We successfully used a series of Reversals to dodge, and when Xemnas was done with that, we focused our attention on defeating him. Sora and I ran over, smashing into Xemnas with the Keyblade and my claws, but his copy he had projected of himself knocked us back. Riku and Kurai dashed in, and I swiftly recovered to join him. After he was weakened somewhat, he suddenly trapped Sora and I into a blue sphere that started to drain our energy.  
"Can you spare…a heart?" Xemnas said in torment. Riku and Kurai jumped up to try and stop him, but they were knocked back by the copy.  
"Sora! Shadow!" Riku and Kurai cried out, and they blasted through the copy as they ran to us. The pair reached us, and Riku and Kurai punched through and grabbed Xemnas's hand. Sora and I were released from the sphere, and we dropped down and quickly recovered as Riku used the hilt of his blade while Kurai used his tail to smash Xemnas in the face. They grabbed Xemnas horizontally, spun him around, and then threw him. "Is that all you got?" Riku said jokingly to Sora.  
"There is no such thing as light!" Xemnas shouted, and he formed two spheres of energy in each hand, melding them together to create darkness around us.  
"Sora! Shadow!" Kurai shouted in warning, and we were forced to move as fast as we could to block the sudden thousands of lasers that shot at us. I heard Xemnas laugh as we deflected the attacks, and we soon blocked them all. We were on our hands and knees as we stared down Xemnas. He suddenly knocked back Riku and Kurai.  
"Riku! Kurai!" we gasped as he did so. Xemnas pointed his beam sword at us as the silverette and his dragon looked up. Xemnas swung his arm back to hit Sora and I, but out of nowhere, Riku and Kurai, in a flash, got up and blocked the attack with their Keyblade and light. Xemnas swung around as Riku and Kurai pushed us out of the way and took a vicious blow to their left sides from the beam sword. As our friends fell, Sora and I caught ourselves and leapt forward. He grabbed Riku's Keyblade as I charged up my power into my white diamond form I hadn't used in a long time. I exploded with power and turned glowing white and Sora and I delivered powerful blows to Xemnas. Sora smashed Xemnas with the two blades, and I used my tail to slam him, sending him spinning back. Sora crossed the blades and knocked Xemnas high into the air as I charged up my most powerful attack at my disposal. Sora and I landed next to Riku and Kurai.  
"Riku!" Sora said, and Riku nodded, placing his hand on Sora's that was on his Keyblade as I finished my charge. Kurai placed one of his clawed hands on my flank as I finished. We shot a beam from the Keyblade and my jaws, and they went straight through Xemnas, defeating him.  
"Cursed…Keyblade…and light…" Xemnas whispered in agony. He reached out to us angrily as he faded away in wisps and smoke.  
"We did it!" Sora cheered when Xemnas was gone.  
"I wouldn't be too sure of that," Riku remarked as many Nobodies appeared. We readied ourselves for the fight, and when they were beaten, they all vanished. My glow of my armor faded as I reverted back to my original form. Riku and Kurai fell to their knees.  
"Sora, Shadow…We can't…" they murmured as though giving up.  
"Don't say another word! It's not over. It's just not," Sora told our best friends firmly. He put Riku's arm over his shoulder and helped him up as I picked up Kurai and carried him on my back.  
"How can you say that?" Riku asked Sora in disbelief. "Even if we could go on…look where we are."  
"Aw, c'mon, Riku," I said sternly. "You've been hanging out in darkness too long. You gotta try and think positive!"  
"Sora, Shadow?" Kurai said.  
"Hm?" we replied.  
"You both lead," he told us.  
"Got it," we said. We started walking, not knowing where we were going, but at least we were trying to make progress.  
"You know…I always figured I was better at stuff than you," Riku told Sora as we walked.  
"Really?" Sora replied.  
"Are you mad?" Riku asked.  
"No," Sora answered. "I kinda always thought you were better at everything, too." We looked ahead.  
"Riku, Kurai—look. What's that light?" I said, and we walked into the light, ending up at a dark beach.  
"End of the road?" Riku asked quietly.  
"Yep," Sora answered.  
"Put us down," our friends told us. "I can walk." Sora set him down and helped him stand as I watched Kurai worriedly when he slid off my back. Riku shrugged as he stood, as did Kurai, showing us they were okay. Sora and I walked down to the water.  
"You know…maybe the darkness has gotten to us, too," we murmured as we watched the waves. We turned and saw Riku and Kurai lying on the sand. "Riku! Kurai!" we gasped, running back to them.  
"This world is perfect for us," the silverette and dragon murmured as they kneeled there. "If this is what the world really is…just this, then maybe we should fade back into darkness."  
"Riku…Kurai…" Sora breathed, and I stared in shock.  
"If the world is made of both light and darkness…We'll be the darkness," Riku said as he sat down.  
"Yeah," we agreed. "The other side…the realm of light is safe now. Kairi, the King, and the others are there."  
"That's what he means," Kurai confirmed. "Hey, Sora and Shadow…Could you help us? We want to get down to the water." Sora and I nodded and helped Riku and Kurai up and over to the water. As we walked, Riku said softly, "At least the waves sound the same." We sat at the waves in comfortable silence for a while, and I curled up between Kurai and Sora.  
"What we said back there…about thinking we was better at stuff than you…To tell you the truth, Sora and Shadow…We were jealous of you," Riku and Kurai admitted.  
"What for?" we asked, perplexed.  
"I wished I could live life the way you do," Riku explained. "Just following my heart."  
"Yeah, well, we've got our share of problems, too," Sora and I replied.  
"Like what?" Kurai asked.  
"Like…wanting to be like you," Sora answered.  
"Well, there is one advantage to being us…Something you two could never imitate," Riku told us.  
"Really? What's that?" we asked.  
"Having you two for friends," Kurai answered simply.  
"Then we guess…we're okay the way we are," we replied. "We've got something you could never imitate too." We looked at the dark sky and closed our eyes, feeling the breeze on ourselves and hearing the sound of the waves. I noticed Riku had something washed up between his legs, and it was a note in a bottle. He picked it up, opened it, pulled out the note and read it with Kurai reading over his shoulder.  
"Sora? Shadow?" the silverette said, and I jumped onto Sora's shoulder again. He handed the note to Sora. "I think it's for you." Sora began to read it aloud.  
"Thinking of you, wherever you are," we read. "We pray for our sorrows to end, and hope that our hearts will blend. Now I will step forward to realize this wish. And who knows: Starting a new journey may not be so hard or maybe it has already begun. There are many worlds, but they share the same sky—one sky, one destiny." A light appeared on the water's surface before us.  
"Light," Kurai murmured.  
"The door to light…" I whispered. Sora scrambled to his feet and offered his hand to Riku while I offered my hand to Kurai.  
"We'll go together," Sora told them.  
"Yeah," the pair agreed. They stood up and we entered the light. Sora, Riku, Kurai, and I flew as graceful as falling stars as we landed in the waters of Destiny Islands. We surfaced and looked about.  
"Sora! Shadow! Riku! Kurai!" Kairi's voice rang out over the ocean. We looked and saw Kairi standing at the shore. We swam as fast as we could to the shore, and when we got close, suddenly Mickey, Donald, and Goofy ran out to us. We were shocked to see the trio of friends here, to say the least. Donald and Goofy ran to me and Sora, piling onto us in the water. Mickey ran to Riku and Kurai, the silverette picking him up and spinning him around. Sora and I sat up as Goofy hugged us and Donald wiped his eye. The pair hugged us again as we looked at Riku, Kurai, and Mickey, and we looked to Kairi, who giggled with a smile on her face. Sora pulled out the Oathkeeper keychain, and he looked up at her as I chuckled.  
"W-we're back," Sora and I said as she watched us.  
"You're home," she said simply, but the words echoed with meaning. She held out her hand, and Sora grabbed it with the Oathkeeper keychain in his.


	27. Dragons Realms, My Home

A/N: Now to see how Shadow's friends and family back home react to his return! But will they allow him to stay? Enjoy~

Disclaimer: I won nothing but the dragons.

Kingdom Hearts 2, Shadow's Story

Chapter 27, The Final Chapter

Dragon Realms…My Home…I'm Back! But Is It Permanent?

Kurai and I met with our friends later a few days after our return, and we asked them to meet with us in the Secret Place. When we had all gathered, I reminded Sora of my idea back during the journey. I had already spoken to Kurai about it, and he agreed wholeheartedly.  
"Sora…Do you remember the idea I had back during our journey?" I asked him.  
"About returning to your world and meeting your family and friends, right?" he said, remembering.  
"Yeah, and I've finally figured out how to get to my world so we can do just that," I informed them. "Sorry, Riku and Kairi. I know you haven't known about this, but I felt my heart ache when I thought about it. I hope you understand."  
"Of course, Shadow," Riku said, nodding. "We're all five friends here." He looked at his partner. "I take it you're with Shadow on this?"

"Yes, that's correct," Kurai nodded.  
"Yeah, I know, but…" I agreed, but trailed off. I braced myself for their reactions. "It's just…I don't know how they'll react to us having human friends."  
"What do you mean?" Kairi asked.  
"It's a long story, and one I'll have to explain if you want to be able to understand me more," I explained. "Otherwise they won't understand anything."  
"All right, then let's hear it," Sora shrugged. "We won't judge you guys, not at all."  
"That's what I was hoping you would say," I murmured. "I haven't shared the entire truth about who I really am."  
"What's that?" Riku asked. I sucked in a deep breath, and then proceeded to explain.  
"I'm…a leader of my clan," I told them. "Sora, you remember…When we were in the Pride Lands and Nala was saying that there was no one else to be king of their pride, I ducked my head, trying to make sure she wouldn't think I was a possibility. The reason why is because I already am the leader of my clan. There are five clans altogether, and I lead Diamond Clan. I have a mate, Kikoku, and she is the leader of Emerald Clan. My other best friend from my home world is Denkou, and he is the leader of Topaz Clan. I have two other clan leader friends, and they are Rose, leader of Ruby Clan, and Sky, leader of Sapphire Clan.

"I have three children, two daughters and a son, the girls being named Kidate and Rinsei, and my son being Naito. I have my mother, Reidou, and my father, Naiya, as well as my older half-sister, Shunketsu. I have a long story as to what happened in my life before I came here when my world was destroyed so long ago. It started when I was just getting my leader ceremony and journey start.  
"I was young, and so were my friends. Kikoku, Denkou, Rose, and Sky were still my friends, and nothing special was between Kikoku and me. We had just finished our training to become true leaders, along with magic and fighting techniques that would help us along the way. We were to start our journey to prove how responsible, kind, caring, powerful, and every other quality that a leader needed to lead his or her clan. My mentor, and now current advisor, Rashagan, had told us we were to begin our journey the next morning. That night, however, we each were visited by the first leaders of each of our clans. Mine was Ishu, Kikoku's was Gaidoku, Denkou's was Raiu, Rose's was Enkou, and Sky was visited by Arashi. They had been the founding leaders to our kind, and had been murdered many centuries prior to our existence, but they visited us each in our dreams and threatened our lives. Apparently, they had been brought back from the dead by an evil mage, Ashi. Ashi was hoping to use their powers as his own, but they betrayed him, obliterating him from existence. They left no body, and Ashi's only son, Kuto, was always resentful toward his father and the five he had brought back. The next morning, we had discussed our dreams, and we decided to find them and kill them," I told my friends. "Is this too much so far?"  
"…Keep going," Sora replied, and I sighed heavily, knowing that it may be too much for them. Kurai nodded encouragement to me, and I thanked him silently by nodding back.  
"Well, anyway, we left for a heavily forested area where we met two new friends, Kaze and Shito. Shito is now Denkou's mate, while Kaze and Star, my deputy, are mates," I continued. "We met them, and they came with us on our journey. As we continued through the forest, we found a cave where we discovered pieces of armor that would give me the ability to become my most powerful when truly needed. We found the armor, and I even found a pendent that would allow me to speak with Naiya, who was dead at the time, in my dreams.

"The story of Naiya and the other leaders goes back to before I was born, and Naiya, along with Emerarudo of Emerald Clan, Ougyoku of Topaz Clan, Rubi of Ruby Clan, and Seigyoku of Sapphire Clan, were the second leaders of the clans, my friends and I being the third in a line of true leaders. They were mysteriously murdered as well, and we found out later that it was Ishu and the others that had done it. Anyway, my friends and I made our way to Kuto's territory, where he greeted us with open arms. He helped us by giving me a piece of the armor that would help me.  
"We made our way to Arashi's lair, where Sky fought him. Sky was almost defeated, but he gained his true power and armor and killed Arashi. Sky helped to purify the tainted land, and Fang, the new leader of the dragons there, gave me another piece of the armor. We left there and made our way to Enkou's lair, and Rose fought her. Rose had the same thing happen to her, gaining her true power and armor and killed Enkou as well. Ruta, the current leader of the dragons there, gave me another piece of armor, and Rose helped purify the land. We left after that, and made our way to the lair of Raiu. Denkou fought him there, gaining his true power and armor, as well as killing Raiu. Shindou gave me another piece of armor, and Denkou purified the land. We left, making our way to Gaidoku's lair, and Kikoku fought her there. By this time, Kikoku and I were now mates, and I worried about her. She almost lost her life, but gained her true power and armor at the last second. She killed Gaidoku and purified the land as Luna gave me the last piece of armor, or so I thought.

"We left for the last place, Ishu's lair. We traveled there, and I was forced into the fight of my life against the most malevolent dragon I had ever heard of. I almost died, but when I thought I had all of the armor, Kito, Ishu's deputy at the time, betrayed Ishu and gave me the last pieces of armor. I put them on, but nothing would happen. I fought Ishu anyway, and he tried to kill Kito for his betrayal, but I took the hit, almost dying. I stayed in the brink of death long enough to find out that Naiya was my father and Ishu was his father, making Ishu my grandfather. I lost my life then, but I awoke in the place between life and death, a place no one would ever want to stay. I spoke with Naiya, and he granted me my true white diamond form. I awoke to Ishu believing he had truly killed me, and I attacked him, all guns blazing. I used all of my newfound power and strength, and defeated Ishu by killing him. I passed out soon afterwards, and awoke to my friends all around me."  
"What happened next, Shadow?" Kairi asked. They were fully engrossed in my tale, so I continued.  
"I returned home with my injuries and became the true leader of my clan, as did the others with theirs. I remember a prophecy had been told to me during my first journey, and it was a dark one. It told me that I would have one that would turn to darkness. I found out a few months after our journey that Kikoku was expecting our children, and that I would be a father. I was overjoyed, but also scared of the prophecy.

"Eventually, Kikoku had our children, and they were two sons, Naito and Kuragari, and our two daughters, Kidate and Rinsei. We loved all four of them dearly, and they grew up to be wonderful. One day, however, that all changed. Ishu had contacted Kuragari from the dead, and Kuragari had used the darkest magic he could have ever used. He used a curse that would bring Ishu back from the dead, and it eventually happened.

"Ishu came back to life, and Kuragari ruled alongside him with dragons from the past. They ruled as a pair of dark lords, and when I had seen Ishu come back to life, I was severely injured; I was left with shattered bones in my wings and injured legs. We soon became known as a resistance.

"I was taken into hiding for several months, and then Shunketsu came with another prophecy. This one spoke of her and I taking down Ishu and Kuragari and saving the human world. Little did I know then that there's more than one. I accepted her words, and we decided to train together once I was fully healed. I became fully healed literally overnight, by some miracle. We started our training the next day, and I soon discovered that Shunketsu was my half-sister. I didn't take it well, and I fled for a few days in hiding to gather my thoughts.

"Once I returned, we continued our training, but one day, Ishu sent a powerful shadow of his to kill us, and that was when Naiya came back to life as well. He told us that it was thanks to the dragons of the stars, and we knew it was true. After Shunketsu and I had finished our training, we readied ourselves for the war. Once the war's time came, we used stealth tactics to take on Ishu and Kuragari's army. Shunketsu and I made our way to the castle where the pair was at, and we fought them. Eventually, I used my white diamond form, and Shunketsu was left on the ground, helpless. Ishu prepared to finish her off, but Kuragari took the blow. He died for his sacrifice, and Shunketsu and I finished off Ishu, winning the war.  
"We took several decades to restore the clans and their environments, but it was done. When the Heartless invaded, Kurai and I were the only survivors. We were the only ones who ended up somewhere else. That's how we ended up here," I concluded. They all three sat there, and I became nervous. "I hope this doesn't change what you think of me…"  
"Shadow, what are you talking about?" Sora asked me. "Like I said before, we won't judge you guys or anything."  
"Thank you," I sighed. I looked at my friends each in turn. "Well, I think there's something else you need to know. My friends in my world are my size, but my family and everyone else are like the size of Maleficent when she's a dragon. So try not to expect a bunch of small dragons."  
"Gotcha. No worries, Shadow," Riku said. "When do we leave?"  
"We can leave whenever you're all ready," Kurai replied. "We're ready when you are. Oh, and by the way, Naiya is the largest of them, so just to let you know."  
"All right, let's go! I'm excited!" Kairi said eagerly.  
"Okay, here goes!" I said, and Kurai and I concentrated our power. We felt the charge build up, and released it into the wall, creating a portal. "There's the portal. Let's go." We walked through, and I felt nervous as we arrived in my home world. I shuddered from the fear of what everyone would think, but I squared my shoulders and shook it off. _'I need to do this,'_ I thought to myself. We soon arrived in the forested area in my territory.  
"Where are we?" Sora asked.  
"We're in the forest of my territory," I answered. "We'll have to walk to the town." We walked in the direction I led them in, and after what felt like several hours but was only a couple hours of comfortable silence, we saw the gate to the town. I noticed there were guards in front, as usual, and I didn't attempt to get their attention. They soon saw us and came running over, ready to fight. I called out to them as they approached.  
"Hey! Is that any way to treat your old leader?" I demanded as they snarled. They soon skidded to a halt, staring at me in shock. Kurai smirked at their expressions.  
"It's Shadow! Shadow and Kurai are back!" they cried out as they ran back to the gate. I roared, just to confirm the guards' statement.  
"Why did you roar?" Riku asked.  
"He needed to confirm their statement, or else it might've been a case of the boy who cried wolf kind of thing," Kurai explained. The guards seemed to have been heard, because there was some major noise coming from inside the town. Kurai and I stood our ground and waited. Suddenly, everyone poured out from town, and I noticed Kikoku and the rest of my family was at the head of it all.  
"Shadow!" Kikoku cried out, and she ran over to me, and we immediately nuzzled each other lovingly. I embraced her when we had finished, and she had tears in her eyes. "I've missed you so much! That's a complete understatement! I've missed you more than anything else!"  
"I've missed you, too, Kikoku," I whispered through my tears of joy. "There hasn't been a day that's gone by where I never thought of you or anyone else."  
"Shadow!" I heard three voices cry out, and I turned slightly to see my three children running over to me.  
"Naito! Kidate! Rinsei!" I cried out with delight. I embraced them each in turn, and they gathered around us. I looked and saw my mother, Reidou, my father, Naiya, and my half-sister, Shunketsu. I embraced each of them, except for my father, who gave me a gentle pat on the back. I looked at them, my eyes shining.  
"We're so happy that you're both alive and safe," Reidou sighed happily. I embraced my mother, and looked to see Denkou, Shito, Kaze, Rose, and Sky coming over. Denkou punched me in the shoulder in jest, and Shito and Rose embraced me. Kaze gave me a respectful look, as if to say, 'Glad you're back.' Sky came over and rubbed my head with his fist, and he smiled at me with the others. Shunketsu embraced me as well, and I finally turned to my friends. Kurai stepped over to them as well, and the others repeated their greetings to him.  
"Everyone, there's a few people Kurai and I want you to meet," I announced to my friends and family. I turned to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. "These are the people that we befriended while we were gone for so long. This is Sora, Riku, and Kairi." I gestured to them each in turn as I said their names. "They have been a huge help for us while we weren't here, and they have been very good to us. We…have something we need to request as well, but only our friends and family can to decide for us."  
"What is it, Shadow?" Naiya asked. I shook my head, and fought back tears as I did.  
"It's something important," was all I said. I stared him in the eyes, and he understood.  
"Let's go, everyone!" Naiya called out. We all followed my father into the town, and Sora, Riku, and Kairi followed me into the castle. We met in my old den room, which was pretty much the same as when I had been gone, only a bit dusty. When we were all settled, Sora, Riku, and Kairi sitting next to me and Kurai leaning against the stone wall, I began to explain what had happened to us over the years.  
"Pretty much, the creatures that had invaded our home all those years ago are something called the Heartless," I began. "They're creatures from the darkness, and they try to get as many hearts as they can. Sora and Riku have these weapons called the Keyblade, and they use them to slay the Heartless. Kurai and I were able to use our light to great use while we traveled, and what happened to us a year ago was what happened here. Riku and Kurai turned to darkness, but Sora and I helped to guide them back to the light. Riku and Kurai are now great friends, and they are now with us on the path of light. Sora and I helped each other to save Kairi, and in the process became Heartless ourselves. But we became ourselves again when Kairi realized it was us and used her light to cure us. Now, Sora and I each have something called a Nobody, which is the empty shell a Heartless leaves behind when someone with a strong heart becomes one. You all know I have a strong heart, so that's how my own Nobody, named Night, came into being. Sora's Nobody was named Roxas, and the two of them, as well as me and Night, were able to rejoin with each other. It's complicated, I know, but we eventually ended up winning the fight against darkness."  
"So…you're free from this now?" Kikoku asked, and I flinched. Kurai watched me carefully.  
"Not quite. I wanted to ask you if Kurai and I should stay here, or if we should go back with our human friends and visit occasionally," I explained. "I just know that you will make the right decision for us, and we won't regret a thing." My fellow dragons all looked at each other. I felt nervous, as though I felt unprepared for what they would say, and I realized I was. I sighed heavily. "If you want to take some time to think about it and discuss it, then we can leave for a moment."  
"That…might be a good idea," Denkou told me. I jerked my head to the door.  
"Let's go, guys," I murmured. We left them to talk about it, and I decided to show them around.  
"I'll at least show you what my home life has been like before I ended up on the islands," I told them, smiling slightly. I led them around the town, sharing with my friends the time I did this or that, and when this or the other thing happened. I was trying to distract myself with what I felt was to come but nothing was working to distract me from the pain I knew was to come. I noticed as we walked through the town, some of the citizens would give Kurai and me strange looks, and I knew it was because of our human friends. I swallowed hard, feeling I would know the answer from my friends and family. Kurai and I eventually led Sora, Riku, and Kairi back to the castle and up to my old den room. I knocked, and I heard Shunketsu's voice say, "Come in." We walked in to face their decision. I squared my shoulders, feeling the heartache of what I thought they would say.  
"Shadow, we've made our decision," my mother murmured. I looked at her, and she had tears budding in her eyes. "We've decided to let you and Kurai stay with your human friends, Sora, Riku, and Kairi, and that we want you to visit often." My jaw felt like it dropped to the floor, I was so shocked. I hadn't felt ready to say goodbye to them, or to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. I walked to them, feeling horrible about this.  
"Why did you choose for me to go back?" I asked quietly as everyone watched. "Is it because you don't want me around as often as I used to be?"  
"Shadow, how could you say that?!" Naito demanded. "It's not that we don't want you around, it's because we know what's best for you."  
"Naito's right," Kidate murmured. "We love you, Shadow, and nothing can change that."  
"Exactly," Rinsei agreed. "You're our father, and of course we love you, but we also know that you're at a crossroads right now in life."  
"We know you better than you yourself, Shadow," Naiya added, chuckling. "It doesn't mean you don't know yourself, we just know you so well because we care about you."  
"And it seems you weren't ready to leave Sora, Riku, and Kairi," Reidou chimed in. "At least not yet, anyway. We know that, and we know that you chose for us to decide what you should do because your heart told you to. Kurai is also the same."  
"Shadow, we'll always care and worry about you, no matter where you are," Kikoku told me. "We know that deep down, you belong with us, but that you also need Sora, Riku, and Kairi in your life, just to maintain your sanity."  
"What do you mean?" I asked. "I love you all, and nothing can ever change that. I…just don't know what to do. I know you've decided for me, I just hope that it's the right choice."  
"Of course it is!" Denkou replied. "We care about you as much as you do us, Shadow and Kurai. That's why we know you'll keep your word to visit us as often as you can. Not daily, of course, but at least a few times in one moon will do."  
"Thank you, sincerely," I said. I turned to my friends, who hadn't spoken at all throughout this. "Aren't you happy?"  
"Of course, Shadow! We were hoping they would choose for you to at least see us every now and then, but this is even better!" Sora told me excitedly. "Trust your friends and family, because they know what's best for you."  
"Sora's got a point," Shunketsu agreed. She eyed them, and then looked at me again. "I know next to nothing about humans except for the fact that most are bad, but these ones are kind and they obviously care about you." Sora looked like he was about to say something, but he closed his mouth, much to my relief. Kurai sniggered at his expression. I looked at my friends and family, and I felt like I was about to cry again. I shook my head and stood proudly before them.  
"I'm so thankful to you all, and I don't know what else to say except thank you," I told them. I embraced all of them, and I turned to leave, Sora, Riku, and Kairi behind me. "Thank you all so much! I promise to you all that I will visit as often as I can until you even get sick of me!"  
"Don't do that, or we'll regret having you say that!" Kaze laughed, and we all joined in with him. I left outside with my human friends, and we left for the forest to return to Destiny Islands.  
"Thanks for coming, guys," I said before we left through the portal.  
"It was nothing! Don't sweat it!" Riku assured me. We left through the portal and returned to the Secret Place. I felt happier now than I had been in years, seeing as Kurai and my friends and family approved of them. I sighed with content as I jumped onto Sora's shoulder again. Kurai relaxed as well on Riku's shoulder. They led the way to our place on the island we always played at when they were just children, and we conversed about what had happened.  
"Shadow, I do have one question," Kairi told me as we spoke.  
"Go ahead, shoot," I replied.  
"What's a moon in time in your world?" she asked.  
"Oh, it's basically a month for you," I explained. "One moon's passing means a month has passed in every other world. It's simple to know."  
"Oh, okay," Kairi said. "Well, it's certainly interesting to know that your family is so large."  
"It wasn't always that way," I murmured. "Like I said when I told you my story, it used to be just me and my mother. Kikoku wasn't my mate yet, and Naiya was still dead. It was hard for the both of us as I grew up without him. My mother always felt somewhat responsible for my situation, but I always tell her there was nothing she could have done. If she had tried to stop Ishu from killing my father, then I would never have been born because she would have been killed herself. Ishu was that powerful, and I feared him during the time when he was brought back and I was part of the resistance."  
"Wow…" Riku managed to say. "How did you do it?"  
"I only managed because I knew I had my friends and family to support me," I answered. "Riku, I know you tried to do everything on your own with Kurai, but you need to know that you do have support. Even if we're not physically with you, our hearts ARE connected, even more deeply than you can imagine."  
"You're right," he murmured. "I never thought of it that way. Otherwise we would've come to you all sooner."  
"Exactly my point," I replied. "Trust me, having that kind of support makes a huge difference. Without them, I wouldn't be who I am today. And that's your friend who's sitting right here with you all." I chuckled and Sora laughed with me. Kurai smirked and rolled his eyes at my sappy statement.  
"Shadow, it's amazing about your story, though," the brunette told me. "It's almost like us, only there's more of your kind that was needed for everything to happen."  
"Yeah, it's a similar situation," I agreed with a nod. "I can't even imagine how things would be now if they hadn't come together the way they had. For example, if my family didn't like you, or if they were all too wary of humans or had any kind of prejudices about you. If that had happened, they might not have let me stay with you."  
"Wow, it was that close?" Kairi asked.  
"Well, the reason my world was created by my ancestors was to protect our kind from being mercilessly killed off by humans," I explained. "Humans back then were terrified of dragons and hated them because we hunted their livestock when our prey was short. That's why I'm my size: I'm just as powerful as a larger dragon, but small enough to not eat too much when we're in a famine."  
"That's why you're the size you are?" Sora remarked. "I always thought it's because you're still pretty young."  
"Well, technically, he is young, but not equivalent to your age," Kurai told them. "If he were human, he'd be a bit older than Riku."  
"Huh," Riku commented, and we all five laughed as the sun set on Destiny Islands. Several days passed without much happening, and when something did happen, it was something small. One day, however, Sora and I walked out to join Riku and Kurai at our tree that overlooked the water. They were already sitting on the trunk when we joined him. Sora leaned against the trunk as I sat on his shoulder.  
"Nothing's changed, huh?" Riku remarked as we watched the ocean.  
"Nope. Nothing will," Sora replied, and I smirked to myself.  
"What a small world," Kurai said.  
"But part of one that's much bigger," I added.  
"Hey Riku, Kurai…what do you think it was—the door to the light?" Sora asked suddenly. Riku and Kurai slid off the trunk and chuckled as he pointed to our hearts.  
"These," they said simply.  
"This?" I questioned, pointing to my heart.  
"Yeah. It's always closer than you think," my old friend replied, and Sora and I smiled.  
"Sora! Shadow! Riku! Kurai!" Kairi yelled, running out from the hut. I noticed she had a message in a bottle in her hand.  
"Hey, what's up?" Sora asked when she got close.  
"Look," she said, and held up the bottle. We saw it had the King's seal on it.  
"From the King?" Sora gasped, and he took the bottle, dumped out the message, and we all five read it.


End file.
